A review of research on AIDS preventive behavior indicates that minority and nonminority heterosexual adolescents and adults, gay men, injection drug users, and commercial sex workers are all less ...

Close relationships and elevated HIV risk behavior: Evidence and possible underlying psychological processes.

http://nepaids.vitis.uspnet.usp.br/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/kippaxsustaining.pdf

Sustaining safe practice: twenty years on

The current investigation assessed the denotative or descriptive meaning that college students attach to the word abstinence. A sample of 1101 students indicated whether a series of sexual behaviors were abstinent or not abstinent. Their categorizations were analyzed for consistency with the CDC's definition of abstinence as “refraining from sexual activities that involve vaginal, anal, and oral intercourse.” Many students categorized behaviors high in risk of HIV-transmission as abstinent, e.g., anal intercourse (24%), oral intercourse (37%), and oral-anal contact (47%). The implications for HTV/STD prevention education and future research are discussed.

The meaning of abstinence for college students.

Background
Sexual abstinence is the best available option for preventing both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS. Identifying the factors associated with sexual abstinence among youths would have meaningful implications in a generalized HIV epidemic country such as the Cote d'Ivoire. Thus, we explored sexual abstinence behavior among never-married individuals aged 15 to 24 in Cote d'Ivoire and assessed factors that predict sexual abstinence.

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Sexual abstinence behavior among never-married youths in a generalized HIV epidemic country: evidence from the 2005 Côte d'Ivoire AIDS indicator survey

Attitudes toward sex and condoms in the U.S. are more negative and less monolithic than in Sweden. We investigated the possible effect of this on AIDS prevention strategies by comparing women and men who were heterosexual university students in the two countries (Sweden: n = 570; U.S.: n = 407). Using self-administered questionnaires, subjects were asked about their sexual activities, safer sex practices, numbers of partners, and condom use. American students took a more multifaceted approach to safer sex — combining changes in sexual activities, reductions in casual sex, and increased condom use with both steady and nonsteady partners. Swedish students took a more singular approach — consistently using condoms with nonsteady partners. It is suggested that the difference in Swedish practices results from fundamental differences in sexual attitudes between the countries.

Harvey L. Gochros

Papers

Risks of Abstinence: Sexual Decision Making in the AIDS Era

Sexual Problems in Social Work Practice