Risky sexual behavior in American white college women: The role of sex guilt and sexual abuse

Heidi A. Wayment, Bethany Aronson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ninety-five sexually active White American female college students participated in a questionnaire study about their sexual behavior in the past 12 months. A path model was tested in order to assess specific hypothesized predictors of risky sexual behavior. As predicted, participants with greater sex guilt reported using condoms more and having had fewer sexual partners. The findings of this study suggest that White American female college students are at some degree of risk due to risky sexual behavior. Taking into account attitudes about sexuality and past sexual abuse along with the requisite training in condom use self-efficacy may enhance the success of interventions designed to reduce risky sexual behavior among White American female college students.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)723-733
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Health Psychology
Volume7
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2002

Keywords

  • College women
  • Condom use self-efficacy
  • Risky sexual behavior
  • Sex guilt
  • Sexual abuse

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Applied Psychology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Risky sexual behavior in American white college women: The role of sex guilt and sexual abuse'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this