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Researchers at Miriam Hospital’s
Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine in Providence, R.I., reported
that a study of the sexual behavior of first-year female college students show
that students are not “hooking up” as frequently as perceived. “Hooking up” was
defined as intimacy between partners who are not dating or in a romantic
relationship and do not expect commitment.
The researchers determined whether
such casual sexual encounters were replacing traditional romantic
relationships. The researchers surveyed 483 first-year female college students
on their sexual behavior with hookups and romantic relationship partners during
freshman year and the summer after. The survey focused on sexual behaviors,
specifically oral or vaginal sex that can have health consequences, such as
sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy.
Before college, approximately 33
percent of incoming women reported at least one hookup, while nearly 60 percent
reported sex at least once in a romantic relationship. In the first year of
college, 40 percent reported sexual hookups, and fewer than one in five had a
sexual hookup each month. The average number of sexual hookups per month was
one to three, suggesting that for most, hookups are experimental and
infrequent. More than half (56 percent) of participants had engaged in oral
and/or vaginal sex with a boyfriend or romantic partner during the year. The
highest rate of sexual hookups was at the beginning of the academic year
(October) and the lowest was in the summer (June). Sexual hookups were more
common among Caucasian students than among Asian or African-American students.
The researchers suggest that the
findings could be useful for university health promotion, including STD and
pregnancy prevention. The article titled, “Are Hookups Replacing Romantic
Relationships? A Longitudinal Study of First-Year Female College Students,” was
published online in the Journal of Adolescent Health (DOI:
10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.09.001).
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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