Higher-Risk Alcohol Use and Risky Sexual Decision-Making among Middle and High School Students

This research investigates relationships between higher-risk alcohol use, gender, and regretted or unwanted sexual encounters among youth. With a more nuanced understanding of how adolescent higher-risk drinking and risky sexual decision-making vary according to gender, health educators can develop efficiently targeted prevention and early intervention strategies.

From years 2009 to 2013, a school-based survey was administered among 39,134 6^th-12^th-grade students from 22 countries. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between gender, frequency and volume of alcohol consumed, and the likelihood of a) regretted sexual experiences and b) feeling taken advantage of sexually due to another’s drinking.

Females were more likely than males (OR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.7, 2.0) to experience a regretted sexual encounter as the result of their own drinking. Females were also more likely than males (OR: 2.7, 95% CI: 2.4, 3.0) to feel taken advantage of due to another’s drinking. While frequency of drinking had no statistically significant relationship with sexual encounter outcomes, volume did; the more alcohol students consumed per drinking event, the more likely an unwanted sexual experience occurred (OR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.9, 2.1). Additionally, those who had regretted sexual experiences due to their own drinking were more likely to feel taken advantage of by another (OR: 9.9, 95% CI: 8.7, 11.4).

This data is particularly useful in norming interventions and in prevention, using such evidence to foster critical thinking among alcohol-using youth as well as youth who socialize with peers who drink.