Condomless sex under the influence differs by class rank in college students

Abstract

Objective

College students, particularly first-year students, are at risk for alcohol misuse and alcohol-related consequences (e.g., condomless sex). Our objective was to determine if first- and second-year students were more or less likely to report any act of condomless sex under the influence of alcohol than third- and fourth-year students.

Participants

Participants (N = 447) were undergraduate students recruited from a private institution in Massachusetts.

Methods

Logistic regression models were used to analyze differences in reported acts of condomless sex under the influence of alcohol in the past 30 days, by class rank.

Results

First- and second-year students had lower odds (OR 0.40, 95% CI: 0.252–0.648) of reporting condomless sex under the influence of alcohol than third- and fourth-year students.

Conclusions

Implications from these results can contribute to understanding sexually transmitted infections in the college population.

Keywords:

• STI prevention
• alcohol misuse
• college students
• condom use

Conflicts of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Springfield College].

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH074387-15 for CBM).