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Bidirectional Associations Between Alcohol Use and Sexual Risk-Taking Behavior from Adolescence into Young Adulthood

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Abstract

Overwhelming evidence indicates that sexual risk-taking behavior and alcohol use are linked, but the nature, strength, and timing of these relations may differ between gender and racial subgroups. These issues were addressed by examining the course and interrelations of both behaviors from adolescence into young adulthood, as well as how these patterns differed between both men and women and between Blacks and Whites. Data came from a representative, community-based sample of 1867 urban participants surveyed up to 5 times over a 15-year period. Although both prospective and trajectory analyses showed that adolescent involvement in one behavior predicted later involvement in the other, most patterns were moderated by gender, race, or both. In general, positive, bidirectional associations were discovered among men and Whites. Among women, adolescent sexual risk-taking behavior positively predicted later drinking, but not vice versa. For Blacks, adolescent alcohol use was inconsistently related to later sexual risk-taking behavior, and adolescent sexual risk-taking negatively predicted later alcohol use. Results suggest that associations between sexual risk-taking behavior and alcohol use are more complex than previously thought and that an adequate understanding of these links must account for both gender and racial differences.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grant AA08047 to M. Lynne Cooper and preparation of this article was supported by Institutional Research Training Grant AA013526 to Kenneth J. Sher, both from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Ross E. O’Hara is now at Persistence Plus®, LLC, Boston, MA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Medicine and Health Care, University of Connecticut Health Center, MC 6325, Farmington, CT, 06030-6325, USA

    Ross E. O’Hara

  2. Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

    M. Lynne Cooper

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Correspondence to Ross E. O’Hara.

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O’Hara, R.E., Cooper, M.L. Bidirectional Associations Between Alcohol Use and Sexual Risk-Taking Behavior from Adolescence into Young Adulthood. Arch Sex Behav 44, 857–871 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0510-8

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