Alcohol Consumption And Risky Sexual Behaviors

5 Pages 1129 Words

Now more than ever, both teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases are at the forefront of social awareness. Because of this, now, more than ever, people should be viewing the effects of alcohol not just in terms of driving, but in terms of risky sexual behaviors as well.
One such risky sexual behavior is unprotected sex, a practice that increases the possibility of negative outcomes such as unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (Jones, Jones, Thomas, & Piper, 2003). Research has shown that that there is a statistical correlation between amount of alcohol consumption and the likelihood of having sexual relations with someone whom one normally wouldn’t (Leigh & Schafer, 1993). This is a fairly common sense in a populous environment, where one is surrounded by strangers in bars, and there is some sense of anonymity. It is also especially true for people around college age. “Adolescents who have been drinking before sex reported significantly more risky sexual behaviors than those who had not been drinking” (as cited in Corbin and Fromme, 2002). In fact, around 90 percent of college students are sexually active, and many have sexual relationships with more than one person during a given time period (Corbin and Fromme, 2002).
I plan on taking this a step further, however, and researching the effects of alcohol on sexual activity in a smaller community, where you know most of the people you’re surrounded by while drinking, and the social consequences of these mistakes can be almost as great as the health consequences. I plan to use an anonymous survey method to gather data. I feel this is the best approach, because in an interview environment, people will likely feel embarrassed when certain questions are asked, perhaps making them less honest.
Method
Participants
Data were collected from 50 undergraduate psychology students at a small liberal arts college consisting of mainly white, mid...