Sexual risk at first coitus: Does alcohol make a difference?

Abstract

This study examines whether use of alcohol at first coitus is associated with increased sexual risk for young women. First coitus is the focus of the investigation because it is a memorable, formative experience that has implications for subsequent sexual health. A community sample of young women ages 18 – 19 years (N = 227) completed retrospective interviews. Characteristics and perceptions of the first coital event were examined using chi squares and one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to determine if there were differences based on alcohol-involvement. Alcohol-involved first coitus events occurred in social settings with risky partners, were rated less positively, and were non-consensual relative to those that did not involve alcohol. Alcohol use was not related to condom use. Alcohol-involvement was associated with subsequent pairing of alcohol with sex and incapacitated rape. Adolescent alcohol use occurs in contexts that increases young women’s sexual risk through exposure to risky partners.

Increased Partner Risk Characteristic Among Adolescents Using Alcohol In the Moment

“…Similarly, our results expand the global and first coitus event-level connection between alcohol use and age discordant partners among youth to general sexual experiences. 11,12 The observed association between in-the-moment alcohol use and meeting partners in public places may be consistent with the worldwide use of alcohol venues as meeting places for new sexual partners, especially considering teens drink alcohol at private parties and street locations. 27,28 Yet, because alcohol use is not associated with a third of teen’s reported public meeting places (e.g., Internet and work), meeting place may also serve as a proxy for meeting higher risk sexual partners.…”

“…11–13 Our observed event-level association between alcohol use and casual partners is consistent with a meta-analysis among young adults and teens demonstrating in-the-moment alcohol use is responsible for 11% of the variance in selecting casual partners. 13 Complimenting and expanding findings of college students selecting a partner who they met that day and teens having unexpected partners at first coitus, 11,12 our results suggest alcohol use likely leads to having an unexpected partner throughout the teen years. Similarly, our results expand the global and first coitus event-level connection between alcohol use and age discordant partners among youth to general sexual experiences.…”

“…6,9 The consistency, however, between partners drinking status is commonly reported. 7,12 Third, because only 12% of participants reported in-the-moment alcohol use, we were limited to assessing alcohol use as a dichotomous variable and were unable to examine differential effects by amounts of alcohol consumed.…”

Racial-Ethnic Differences in Sexual Risk Behaviors: The Role of Substance Use

“…Drug and alcohol use have been found to be consistently strong determinants of sexual risk behavior for college students and young adults across racial-ethnic groups (Cooper, 2002; Guo et al, 2002; Johnson & Chen, 2014; Livingston, Testa, Windle, & Bay-Cheng, 2015; Moilanen, 2013; Thamotharan, Grabowski, Stefano, & Fields, 2014; Valois, Oeltmann, Waller, & Hussey, 1999). In extreme cases, substance use increases the likelihood that individuals will participate in risky sexual behaviors in order to acquire drugs.…”

Teenage Risky Behavior and Parental Supervision: The Unintended Consequences of Multiple Shifts School Systems

“…Wellings et al (2006) document that the median age at first intercourse is below 19 in most countries in the world and the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (hereafter CASA) at Columbia University reports that initiation in consumption of alcohol and drugs occurs almost certainly before the age of 21 (CASA 2005). Other studies have shown that adolescents that start having sex earlier take more sexual risks such as having intercourse under the effects of drugs (Livingston et al 2015) and are more likely to develop cervix cancer (Louie et al 2009) than their peers that initiate intercourse after the age of 16. Many studies have shown that the first intercourse experience entails permanent emotional consequences and determines future sexual behavior, especially for girls (see Livingston et al 2015 for a review of salient papers).…”