Sex on the Beach: The Influence of Social Norms and Trip Companion on Spring Break Sexual Behavior

Abstract

Spring Break trips are associated with heavy drinking and with risky sexual behavior (e.g., unprotected sex, multiple partners, unwanted sexual contact), especially for those students who go on trips with friends. The present study adds to this growing event-specific risk literature by examining Spring Break-specific normative perceptions of sexual risk behavior and the role that these perceptions and taking a trip with a friend or with a romantic partner have on Spring Break sexual behavior. College students (N = 1,540; 53.9% female) were asked to report descriptive normative perceptions of sex with casual partners, drinking prior to sex, number of drinks prior to sex, and condom use as well as their own Spring Break drinking and sexual behaviors. Students perceived the typical same-sex student to have engaged in more frequent sexual behavior for all outcomes than students’ own self-reported sexual behavior. Furthermore, results revealed that these perceptions were positively associated with behavior. The choice of travel companion (friend(s) vs. romantic partner) also deferentially predicted sexual behaviors. Results suggested that intervention efforts aimed at reducing risks for Spring Break trip-takers may be strongest when they incorporate corrective normative information and target those traveling with friends.

Simultaneous Alcohol and Marijuana Use Among College Students: Patterns, Correlates, Norms, and Consequences

“…In addition, we found that perceptions of close friend SAM use, compared with peer use, were more strongly related to SAM use and consequences. The salience of close friend norms is consistent with other research highlighting the role of close friends on norms and/or actual behavior for alcohol use (Lee et al., ; Lewis et al., , 2015b) and marijuana use (Buckner, ; Ecker et al., ; Neighbors et al., ). It is interesting that norms predicted negative SAM consequences even after controlling for SAM use itself.…”

Conformity motives for alcohol use are associated with risky sexual behavior among alcohol-dependent patients in residential substance abuse treatment

“…These results are consistent with past research demonstrating that peer influences can affect RSB (Lewis, Patrick, Mittmann, & Kaysen, 2014), as well as evidence that ostracism, rejection, and rejection sensitivity are associated with greater risk-taking behaviors, including RSB (Buelow & Wirth, in press; Edwards & Barber, 2010; Kopetz et al, 2014). The results of this study are also consistent with those of MacPherson and colleagues (2012), who found that alcohol use conformity motives were significantly associated with negative reinforcement-based risk-taking as assessed through a behavioral task.…”

Friends in low places: The impact of locations and companions on 21st birthday drinking

“…First, consistent with previous work showing romantic partners encourage healthier behaviors (e.g., Markey et al, 2007), perhaps significant others were associated with less drinking because they encouraged use of protective behavioral strategies or staying safe during the celebration. Also, given that previous work has found students sometimes drink more in attempts to have sex with new or casual partners (Cooper, 2002; Dermen & Cooper, 1994; Leigh, 1990; Lewis, Patrick, Mittman, & Kaysen, 2014; Patrick, Maggs, & Lefkowitz, 2015; Testa & Collins, 1997), it is possible that an already established romantic partnership and thus a lack of desire to pursue other sexual targets was protective against heavy drinking in our sample. Relatedly, it is also possible that a desire to engage in sexual activities later that evening with one’s romantic partner was protective against particularly heavy drinking (Brown & Vanable, 2007; Patrick et al, 2015).…”