Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Hookups Among First-Semester Female College Students

Abstract

First-semester female college students (N = 118) completed surveys to estimate the prevalence of sexual hookups and event-level assessments to clarify the behavioral characteristics of their most recent hookup. Hookups involving oral, vaginal, or anal sex were reported by 51% before college, 36% during their first semester, and 60% by the end of their first semester. Event-level analyses revealed that hookups were more likely to involve friends (47%) or acquaintances (23%) rather than strangers (14%); alcohol use (median = 3 drinks) preceded 64% of hookups. Condoms were used during 69% of vaginal sex hookups.

This research was supported by grants from Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology, and from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01-MH0681 71). The authors would like to thank Hillary L. Bishop for her help with data collection and data entry.

Notes

In this initial study, we focused on college women because they appear more vulnerable than men to the possible consequences of hookups such as negative emotional reactions (Owen et al., 2010), unwanted sexual activity (Larimer, Lydum, Anderson, & Turner, 1999), STDs (Institute of Medicine, 1997), and unintended pregnancy.

^aMcNemar's test for dependent proportions was used: p < .01, indicating that the lifetime prevalence at T2 was greater than the lifetime prevalence at T1.