TY - JOUR
T1 - Young urban adults' heterosexual risk encounters and perceived risk and safety
T2 - A structured diary study
AU - O'Sullivan, Lucia F.
AU - Udell, Wadiya
AU - Patel, Vimla L.
N1 - Funding Information:
Note. This research was supported in part by a NIMH Grant ROI MH65851 to Vimla L. Patel. We thank Patricia Antoniello and the administration at Brooklyn College; Megan McCrudden, Giovanna Rodriguez, Lily Gutnik, Nicole Yoskowitz, and Fuerza Fraga for help with recruitment and data collection; and Curtis Dolezal and Cheng-Shiun Leu for help with analyses.
PY - 2006/11
Y1 - 2006/11
N2 - Using diary methods, we explored characteristics of young adults' sexual risk interactions over a 2-week period and the framing effects indicate in associations between the perceived risk and safety of these sexual risk behaviors. We screened all participants to ensure moderate to high scores on an HIV knowledge measure. Men (n = 44) and women (n = 48) enrolled at an inner-city college collected diary data, generating reports of 440 sex occasions over a 2-week period (1,278 person-days). Despite participation in sexual risk activities, including highly inconsistent condom use during intercourse, participants uniformly reported high safety and little to no risk. Only women's perceptions of safety (not risk) were associated with condom use, men's perceptions of both safety and risk were unrelated. Ratings of safety and risk appeared to operate independently for the most part. Sex with new partners and new sexual activity were associated with both judgments of greater risk and lower safety were associated for men only. These results add to the growing evidence that young people fail to integrate their general knowledge regarding HIV risk into their personal interactions. This study has implications for the development of cognitive models around sexual decision-making for young adults at risk for HIV and may provide insight into the contextual features of sexual interactions associated with young people's perceptions of risk and safety.
AB - Using diary methods, we explored characteristics of young adults' sexual risk interactions over a 2-week period and the framing effects indicate in associations between the perceived risk and safety of these sexual risk behaviors. We screened all participants to ensure moderate to high scores on an HIV knowledge measure. Men (n = 44) and women (n = 48) enrolled at an inner-city college collected diary data, generating reports of 440 sex occasions over a 2-week period (1,278 person-days). Despite participation in sexual risk activities, including highly inconsistent condom use during intercourse, participants uniformly reported high safety and little to no risk. Only women's perceptions of safety (not risk) were associated with condom use, men's perceptions of both safety and risk were unrelated. Ratings of safety and risk appeared to operate independently for the most part. Sex with new partners and new sexual activity were associated with both judgments of greater risk and lower safety were associated for men only. These results add to the growing evidence that young people fail to integrate their general knowledge regarding HIV risk into their personal interactions. This study has implications for the development of cognitive models around sexual decision-making for young adults at risk for HIV and may provide insight into the contextual features of sexual interactions associated with young people's perceptions of risk and safety.
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U2 - 10.1080/00224490609552333
DO - 10.1080/00224490609552333
M3 - Article
C2 - 17599255
AN - SCOPUS:33845917315
SN - 0022-4499
VL - 43
SP - 343
EP - 351
JO - Journal of Sex Research
JF - Journal of Sex Research
IS - 4
ER -