Citation

Hoffman V, Bolton R. AIDS Care 1997; 9(3): 285-296.

Affiliation

Claremont Graduate School, CA, USA. vhoffman@ucla.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9290834

Abstract

Individuals report a variety of reasons for having sex. Understanding these reasons can improve HIV and STD prevention efforts because they may constitute an important component in the aetiology of sexual risk-taking behaviours. Relationships between self-reported reasons for having sex and frequency of participation in sexual practices among 146 heterosexual men recruited from public STD clinics in Southern California were examined. Using a self-administered questionnaire, respondents reported how often they engaged in sex for each of 16 reasons and how frequently they participated in high, moderate, and low-risk sexual practices. A principal components analysis identified five factors used to construct scales: love; compliance; pleasure; altered states; and potency. Higher-risk sexual practices were positively associated with the pleasure and potency scales, whereas lower-risk practices were positively associated with the love scale. These findings suggest that some reasons men report for having sex may influence sexual risk-taking. Interventions to reduce unsafe sex should explicitly address how men can practise safer sex and still experience pleasure and potency.

Language: en