It Won't Happen to Me: College Students' Perceived Susceptibility of Contracting STIs

College students are at significant risk for contracting Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs); however, students often report low perceived susceptibility of contracting STIs. Research has shown that inaccurate perceptions of susceptibility may be a significant barrier to preventing STIs. The purpose of this study is to examine sexual activity of college students and the perceived susceptibility for contracting STIs. Data were collected using an anonymous questionnaire administered to 368 college students at a southeastern university. Participants were primarily female (78.1%) and white (76.6%). When examining sexual activity, 81.0% of respondents had received oral sex, 77.3% had given oral sex, 69.7% had vaginal sex, and 15.0% had anal sex. Only 16.4% of respondents reported that they were worried a lot about contracting a STI, with 17.8% reporting that they were somewhat worried, 28.9% reporting a little worry, and 36.9% reporting no worry at all. When examining perceived susceptibility for contracting STIs, 45.8% of respondents reported that other students at the university had a high chance of contracting STIs, 8.9% reported that their close friends had a high chance, 5.0% reported that their partners had a high chance, and only 3.1% reported that they had a high chance of contracting a STI. Students perceive that other students have high risk of contracting STIs, but their self-perceived risk is low. Future research should be conducted to develop appropriate strategies to develop interventions that focus on increasing self-perceived susceptibility of contracting STIs.