Binge Drinking in Young Adulthood: The Influence of Age at First Intercourse and Rate of Sex Partner Accumulation

Abstract

There has been growing attention to the influence of youths’ sexual experiences on alcohol use and other health-risk behaviors. Yet, because of the cross-sectional nature of many studies, as well as the likelihood of alcohol use and sexual behaviors to co-occur, the question of whether initiation of sexual activity tends to precede engagement in other behaviors, like binge drinking, remains largely unanswered. Using data from 4,726 respondents who participated in Waves I though IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we examine the association between age at first intercourse and frequent binge drinking during one’s mid-twenties and early thirties. We further explore whether this relationship is mediated or moderated by the rate at which individuals accumulate sex partners during the transition to adulthood. Findings show for women and men, later ages at first intercourse are associated with lower odds of frequent binge drinking in young adulthood. While rate of sex partner accumulation partially mediates this association, it does not moderate it. Furthermore, rate of partner accumulation is positively associated with binge drinking, particularly among women, with a quicker accumulation of sex partners associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in frequent binge drinking. Our findings underscore the importance of considering multiple dimensions of a single behavior and their relation to subsequent health-related behaviors.

Early sexual initiation and risky sexual practices among alcohol- and tobacco-using young adults in Taiwan: mediation analysis of preceding-sex use of illicit drugs

“…Under the context that all the participants in this study were regular users of alcohol and tobacco, the early sexual initiators still reported more regular binge drinking than the nonearly sexual initiators. This is consistent with previous studies showing early sexual initiators to have increased risk of binge drinking [ 57 , 58 ]. Furthermore, the early sexual initiators reported more lifetime illicit drug use, in which ketamine was the most commonly used drug, and more preceding-sex use of illicit drugs than the nonearly sexual initiators.…”

An Online Drug Abuse Prevention Program for Adolescent Girls: Posttest and 1-Year Outcomes

“…Possibly, the prevention program left girls better equipped to moderate their drinking. Differences in binge drinking rates are notable because as girls enter early adulthood, their associated risks of excessive alcohol use include: unprotected sex, multiple sex partners, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and sexual assault (Haas et al 2016; Holway et al 2017). The ability to minimize binge drinking, therefore, confers numerous benefits.…”

Brains, brawn, and beauty: The complementary roles of intelligence and physical aggression in attracting sexual partners

“…The standard social science approach to the study of sex partner accumulation is plentiful in its research output but also largely atheoretical, focusing on various risk and protective factors among children and adolescents, such as poverty, religion, peers, and parent-child relationships (e.g., Coley et al, 2013;Halpern et al, 2000;Hardy et al, 2019;Holway et al, 2017;Hughes et al, 2017;Kan et al, 2010;Kogan et al, 2017, Warner, 2018. To briefly summarize, this study finds that youth from abusive and economically unstable homes, who are not religious and not academically engaged, who use drugs and alcohol and associate with risky peer groups, tend to have sex earlier and with more partners than their conventionally situated peers.…”