Reasons for having sex and sexual risk-taking: a study of heterosexual male STD clinic patients.
Individuals report a variety of reasons for having sex. Understanding these reasons can improve HIV and STD prevention efforts because they may constitute an important component in the aetiology of sexual risk-taking behaviours. Relationships between self-reported reasons for having sex and frequency of participation in sexual practices among 146 heterosexual men recruited from public STD clinics in Southern California were examined. Using a self-administered questionnaire, respondents reported how often they engaged in sex for each of 16 reasons and how frequently they participated in high, moderate, and low-risk sexual practices. A principal components analysis identified five factors used to construct scales: love; compliance; pleasure; altered states; and potency. Higher-risk sexual practices were positively associated with the pleasure and potency scales, whereas lower-risk practices were positively associated with the love scale. These findings suggest that some reasons men report for having sex may influence sexual risk-taking. Interventions to reduce unsafe sex should explicitly address how men can practise safer sex and still experience pleasure and potency.
Hoffman
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V
Claremont Graduate School, CA, USA. vhoffman@ucla.edu
Bolton
R
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000635:transmission