The Male-to-Female Ratio and Multiple Sexual Partners: Multilevel Analysis with Patients from an STD Clinic

Abstract

Sexual partner concurrency plays an important role in HIV and STD transmission. The shortage of African-American men may facilitate partner concurrency. This study evaluated whether the maleto-female ratio was associated with African-American participants' number of recent sexual partners, and whether this association differed by gender. Multilevel modeling was used to determine the influence of individual (i.e., gender) and population-level (i.e., sex ratio) variables on the number of recent sexual partners. African-American patients (N = 915; 52% male) were recruited from an STD clinic. Patients reported their number of sexual partners; the male-tofemale ratio per census tract was obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau. There were fewer men than women in nearly all census tracts. The interaction between gender and the male-to-female ratio was significant. For men, there was no association between the sex ratio and their number of sexual partners. For women, as the sex ratio increased, their number of sexual partners increased; however, this association was driven by participants who reported trading sex. We found no evidence that fewer African-American men in a census tract was associated with men having more sexual partners.

Sex ratio, poverty, and concurrent partnerships among men and women in the United States: a multilevel analysis

“…[17], [18] Like our study, a Zambian study demonstrated that men who resided in a district with a low sex ratio and decreased income earning opportunities for women were more likely to participate in extramarital sexual activity. [19] Similarly, an analysis of the 31,126 men and women in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) found that Black men in counties with a low sex ratio (calculated after subtracting the number of inmates in county correctional facilities) and high Black male incarceration rates were more likely to have multiple partners than were men in counties where the ratios were more balanced.…”

Attitudes Toward and Sexual Partnerships With Drug Dealers Among Young Adult African American Females in Socially Disorganized Communities

“…The present study’s findings are in line with research indicating that young adult African American females tend to engage in disassortative mixing (Adimora & Schoenbach, 2005; Adimora, Schoenbach, & Doherty, 2006; Senn, Carey, Vanable, Urban, & Sliwinski, 2008). Disassortative mixing occurs when higher risk and lower risk persons form partnerships (Laumann & Youm, 1999).…”

Factors Influencing Dating Experiences Among African American Emerging Adults

“…The sexual community on HBCU campuses are much like the broader African American communities in that the gender ratio imbalance intensifies power imbalances within relationships that may manifest in women feeling less able to negotiate safer sex (e.g., condom use, monogamy) with men (El-Bassel, Caldeira, Ruglass, & Gilbert, 2009). African American women, on and off HBCU campuses may be putting themselves at increased risk of contracting STIs, including HIV, because they may feel compelled to be more tolerant of a male partner’s concurrent partnerships because of the lack of alternatives (El-Bassel et al, 2009; Ferguson et al, 2006; Senn, Carey, Vanable, Urban, & Sliwinski, 2010). These lack of alternatives (i.e., partners) may impact women’s self-protective behaviors in ways that are driven by emotions such as fear of losing a partner or fear of not finding another (El-Bassel et al, 2009).…”