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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Andrea N. Kopstein, PhD, MPH, SAMHSA/CSAT/OESAS, Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Government, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockwall II, Suite 8-40, Rockville, MD 20857, 301-443-3491, akopstei@samhsa.gov
Alcohol use is often identified as a potential contributor to risky behaviors, including unprotected sexual intercourse and multiple sex partners. The effects from alcohol are considered more important for young people because they have less experience with the consequence of drinking, particularly heavy drinking. However, the literature on the relationship between drinking and risky sexual behaviors indicates mixed findings on this topic. The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) does not ordinarily contain questions on sexual behaviors, but in 1996 a personal behaviors section was added. This supplement included 25 questions about sexual activity in the year prior to survey. This section also included a series of questions related to a respondents last sexual encounter (condom use, type of partner, and reason for using or not using a condom). This report looked at respondents 18 through 25 years of age. Marital status was considered in the analyses. Early findings include: 1) people who drink are more likely to be sexually active, 2) heavy alcohol use among 18 to 25 year old females increased the odds of being sexually active more than 8 times, 3) among 18 to 25 year old males, binge and heavy drinkers were significantly less likely to always use a condom, and 4) both male and female alcohol drinkers were significantly more likely than non-drinking peers to report having multiple sex partners.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Alcohol, Alcohol Problems
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.