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from Medical Issues
Study Examines Sexual Risk Behaviors
And HIV Transmission
October 13, 2006 - Researchers Jumi Hayaki, Bradley Anderson and Michael Stein recently published "Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Substance Users: Relationship to Impulsivity," in the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors (September 2006).
The research was designed to investigate the role of impulsivity in high-risk "sexual behavior in a community group of substance users. We hypothetized that sexual risk behavior would be positively associated with a measure of train impulsivity and that this association would be independent of the shared relation with demographic factors and substance abuse variables previously associated with risky sexual behavior."
They recruited participants for the study from community agencies, newspaper ads, and street flyers. The study consisted of 344 individuals; 62.1% male; 37.9% female. They were administered a variety of questionnaires, including: Sex Risk subscale of the Risk Assessment Battery; Addiction Severity Index; and the Eysenck I7 Questionnaire.
The study found that "Frequency of cocaine use and use of alcohol to the point of intoxication in the past month were both significantly and positively associated with sexual risk behavior ... Heroin use was inversely associated with sexual risk behavior in bivariate analyses."
In addition, "Impulsivity was uniquely associated with high-risk sexual behavior, above and beyond the shared association with demographic variables and measures of substance use."
According to the authors, this study "suggests that, among this already high-risk group, a particular subset of especially impulsive individuals may experience an even higher risk for sexual transmission of HIV and may, therefore, represent a target group for early identification and additional intervention."
Additional Reading: Medical Issues.
Updated: 8 February 2008
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