Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with a wide range of negative outcomes. This study investigated the relation between CSA and sexual risk behavior in 827 patients recruited from an STD clinic. Overall, CSA was reported by 53% of women and 49% of men, and was associated with greater sexual risk behavior, including more sexual partners, unprotected sex, and sex trading. Alcohol use for men, and drug use for women, mediated the relation between CSA and the number of partners in the past three months; intimate partner violence mediated the relation between CSA and the number of episodes of unprotected sex in the past three months for women. These results document the prevalence of CSA among patients seeking care for an STD, and can be used to tailor sexual risk-reduction programs for individuals who were sexually abused.

Research on the association between substance use and sexual risk behavior has yielded a complex pattern of fi ndings. Such inconsistent fi ndings may refl ect method variance, including factors such as gender of the participant, nature of the sexual event, partner characteristics, and type of substance used. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between substance use and unprotected sex independently for alcohol, drugs, or combined substance use and to examine partner characteristics as a moderator of this association. Method: Participants (N = 1,419; 48% women) were recruited from a publicly funded sexually transmitted disease clinic and were asked to complete an audio computer-assisted self-interview regarding their most recent sexual experience, including nature of the event, substance use, and partner characteristics. Results: Analyses showed that alcohol use was related to condom use when gender and partner type were considered; thus, for women, but not for men, partner type interacted with alcohol consumption such that condom use was less likely when alcohol consumption preceded sex with nonprimary partners (drinking was unrelated to condom use with primary partners). Subsequent analyses examining partner substance use showed that women, but not men, who reported both they and their nonprimary partners were drinking during sex were less likely to use a condom. Conclusions: At the event level, alcohol consumption among sexually transmitted disease clinic patients is associated with condom use, but this association differs by gender and partner characteristics. Findings suggest the need to strengthen substance-use components in sexual risk reduction interventions for women and their partners.

Childhood and adolescent sexual abuse has been associated with subsequent (adult) sexual risk behavior, but the effects of force and type of sexual abuse on sexual behavior outcomes have been less well-studied. The present study investigated the associations between sexual abuse characteristics and later sexual risk behavior, and explored whether gender of the child/adolescent moderated these relations. Patients attending an STD clinic completed a computerized survey that assessed history of sexual abuse as well as lifetime and current sexual behavior. Participants were considered sexually abused if they reported a sexual experience (1) before age 13 with someone 5 or more years older, (2) between the ages of 13 and 16 with someone 10 or more years older, or (3) before the age of 17 involving force or coercion. Participants who were sexually abused were further categorized based on two abuse characteristics, namely, use of penetration and force. Analyses included 1177 participants (n = 534 women; n = 643 men). Those who reported sexual abuse involving penetration and/or force reported more adult sexual risk behavior, including the number of lifetime partners and number of previous STD diagnoses, than those who were not sexually abused and those who were abused without force or penetration. There were no significant differences in sexual risk behavior between nonabused participants and those who reported sexual abuse without force and without penetration. Gender of the child/adolescent moderated the association between sexual abuse characteristics and adult sexual risk

Objective-To evaluate the separate and combined effectiveness of brief and intensive interventions for sexual risk reduction among patients at a STD clinic.Method-Patients (N =1483; 54% men; 64% African-American; M = 29.2 years old) from a publicly-funded, walk-in STD clinic participated. Patients completed a baseline assessment, and then were randomized to one of six intervention arms; each arm combined a brief intervention with an intensive intervention. The interventions provided different levels of information, motivational counseling, and behavioral skills training, guided by theory, formative research, and empiric precedent. Follow-up assessments, including STD screening, occurred at 3, 6, and 12 months post-intervention.Results-Infection rates declined from 18.1% at baseline to 4.5% at 12 months. At a 3-month follow-up, patients reported fewer sexual partners, fewer episodes of unprotected sex, and a lower percentage of unprotected sexual events; they strengthened sexual health knowledge, safer sex attitudes and intentions, and self-efficacy beliefs. No consistent pattern of differential risk reduction was observed among the six intervention conditions, nor was any evidence of decay from 3 to 12 month follow-ups obtained.Conclusions-Implementing behavioral interventions in a STD clinic was associated with significant reduction of sexual risk behavior, and risk antecedents.

Objectives Partner concurrency facilitates the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). With this study, we sought to (1) determine the correlates of concurrency among patients with a steady partner, and (2) identify correlates of condom use among patients reporting concurrent steady and non-steady partners. Methods Patients recruited from a STI clinic (n = 973; 48% female; 68% African American) completed a survey that assessed demographic characteristics, substance use, sexual partnerships, and sexual behavior, including condom use. Patients reporting a steady sexual partner for 3 months or longer were included in the analyses. Those who also reported a non-steady partner in the past 3 months, in addition to a steady partner, were considered to have engaged in concurrency. Results Nearly two-thirds (64%) of patients reported both steady and non-steady partners in the past 3 months. Steady/non-steady concurrency was associated with being male, not cohabitating with a partner, use of alcohol and other drugs, and thinking their steady partner was monogamous. Patients with steady and non-steady partners reported that they seldom used condoms consistently with steady (5%) or non-steady (24%) partners; compared to patients who did not report concurrency, patients who reported steady/non-steady concurrency reported more episodes of unprotected sex in the past 3 months. Among patients reporting concurrency, consistent condom use with non-steady partners was more likely among individuals who (a) used less alcohol and (b) thought that their steady partner was non-monogamous. Conclusions To reduce risk for HIV and other STIs, behavioral interventions need to address partner concurrency and its correlates, including alcohol and other drug use.