Risky sexual behavior in students: STD risk, sexual guilt, and condom use

Engaging in risky sexual behaviors inherently puts individuals at higher risk of contracting STDs and unwanted pregnancy. The study examined the association of high-risk STD attitudes, sexual guilt, and condom use embarrassment with risky sexual behavior (SRSB) in 643 ethnically-diverse college students. We created the Self-report Risky Sexual Behaviors Scale (SRSB, Cronbach's alpha=.79), which included 20 items measuring unprotected sex, condom use, and sexual negotiation. We hypothesized high-risk STD attitudes, sexual guilt, and condom embarrassment would explain greater variance in risky sexual behavior. We created and tested a model using hierarchical regression analysis (SRSB as dependent variable). which explained 26% of variance in risky sexual behaviors [adjusted Rē=.26,F(18, 655)=14.76, p<.001]. Unexpectedly, two of the three condom embarrassment sub-scales, condom expectancy (t=-5.81, p<.001) and self-consciousness (t=-3.44, p<.001) were significantly negatively associated with higher levels of RSB; however, the third condom embarrassment sub-scale, psychological discomfort with condom use (t=4.04, p<.001), was positively associated with higher levels of SRSB. Two of the sub-scales for high-risk STD attitudes, Action (t=3.11,p<.01) and Feeling (t=3.20,p<.001) were positively associated with higher levels of SRSB, while the Belief sub-scale (t=-1.78,p<.05) was, unexpectedly, negatively related to higher levels of SRSB. Surprisingly, the Sexual Guilt sub-scale (t=-4.24, p<.001) was negatively associated with higher levels of SRSB. Our findings suggest implications for public health since preventative interventions designed to address STD attitudes, sexual guilt and condom embarrassment may help to reduce risky sexual behaviors and prevent unwanted pregnancy in college students.