Anal sex VS vaginal sex only: A pilot study comparison of college students' behaviors

The number of individuals age 18-19 who have had anal sex rose 20% from 1992-2010. This pilot study explores differences and similarities between college students who have had only vaginal sex and those who have ever had anal sex. Data were collected using 88-item paper surveys at a large public university in 2012. The 322 undergraduate respondents were 75.6% female, 73% White, 14% Black or African American, 8.4% Asian, 89.4% were ages 18-21, and 6.2% identified as Hispanic or Latino. More than half (57.5%) had vaginal sex only (76.4% female) and 8.1% had ever engaged in anal sex (50% female). Of “ever anal sex”, 73.1% did not use a condom last time, 76.9% had only one partner, and 80.0% waited 4+months after meeting a partner to have anal sex. “Ever anal sex” respondents were significantly more likely than “vaginal sex only” to have sext-messaged in the past month (p<0.05), been persuaded to have sexual contact (p = 0.05), and to wait less time after meeting a person to engage in vaginal sex (p=0.005). Most anal sex occurred sober. Two-thirds of both groups had vaginal sex while drunk/on drugs. Groups were similar in number of sexual partners, vaginal sex condom use, and time waited before engaging in oral sex. Results suggest that anal sex occurs during a longer term relationship than vaginal sex, but low condom use and potential sexual persuasion are of great concern. Public health professionals and sexual health educators must take this into account in research and practice.