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Research has consistently shown that motives for security (i.e., prevention focus) or pleasure (i.e., promotion focus) determine risk perception and behaviors in several domains, including sexual health. We tested if being more focused on prevention or promotion was associated with condom use attitudes and if the perceived risk of HIV infection explained these associations. Participants (N = 405, 61.7% women; M.sub.age = 23.10, SD = 5.06) took part in an online cross-sectional study. We found positive associations between both regulatory foci and condom use attitudes. Mediation analyses further showed that participants who were more focused on prevention perceived condoms as more reliable, attributed less stigma to condom use, and were less embarrassed about condom use negotiation. These associations were explained by the perception of less risk of HIV infection. Results also revealed a few associations with personality traits and moderations by age and gender. These findings highlight the importance of considering individual motives to gain an understanding of how the perceived risk of infection can shape sexual health decision-making., Author(s): David L. Rodrigues [sup.1] , Diniz Lopes [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.45349.3f, 0000 0001 2220 8863, Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, , CIS-Iscte. Av. das Forças Armadas, 1649-026, Lisboa, Portugal [...]

Although various studies have examined the association between risky sexual behaviors and mental health outcomes, few studies have investigated the association between risky sexual behaviors and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among adolescents. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between risky sexual behaviors and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among adolescents from the United States. Data for this study came from the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. An analytic sample of 5,125 adolescents aged 14-18 years (50.1% female) who have ever had sexual intercourse was analyzed using binary logistic regression. The outcome variables examined were suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, and the main explanatory variable was risky sexual behaviors. Among the 5,125 adolescents who have ever had sexual intercourse, 22.8% experienced suicidal ideation, and 11.6% attempted suicide during the past 12 months. In the multivariable logistic regression, adolescents who had unprotected sexual intercourse had 1.24 times higher odds of reporting suicidal ideation (AOR = 1.24, p < .05, 95% CI = 1.01-1.54). In addition, adolescents who had four or more sexual partners in their lifetime had 1.61 times higher odds of making a suicide attempt (AOR = 1.61, p < .001, 95% CI = 1.25-2.07). Other significant factors associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts include being a sexual minority, being a victim of sexual violence, experiencing school bullying and cyberbullying victimization, having symptoms of depression, and misusing prescription pain medication. The findings of the present study highlight the association between risky sexual behaviors and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among adolescents., Author(s): Philip Baiden [sup.1] , Nusrat Jahan [sup.2] , Vera Etornam Mets [sup.3] , Yvonne Adeku [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.267315.4, 0000 0001 2181 9515, School of Social Work, The [...]

Personality traits, automatic thoughts and affective states play a major role on female sexual functioning. Nevertheless, little is known regarding the moderator role of personality traits on the relationship between automatic thoughts and affective states, and sexual functioning, in lesbian and heterosexual women. The current study aimed to test the moderator role of personality traits (e.g. neuroticism) on the relationship between automatic thoughts and affective states during sexual activity, and sexual functioning in a sample of lesbian and heterosexual women. Nine-hundred and forty-one women (697 heterosexual women; 244 lesbian women) completed an online survey about cognitive factors and sexual functioning. Participants completed the NEO-Five Factor Inventory, the Automatic Thoughts Scale from the Sexual Modes Questionnaire, the Positive Affect - Negative Affect Scale, and the Female Sexual Functioning Index. Main findings suggested neuroticism, sexual abuse thoughts, failure and disengagement thoughts, lack of erotic thoughts, and positive and negative affective states as significant predictors of female sexual functioning, regardless of sexual orientation. Moreover, women with higher levels of sexual abuse thoughts and higher absence of erotic thoughts, or lower levels of positive affective states, when presented higher levels of neuroticism, also reported a decrease in their sexual functioning, regardless of sexual orientation. Overall, neuroticism acts as moderator on the relationship between sexual abuse thoughts, lack of erotic thoughts and positive affective states, and sexual functioning, regardless of sexual orientation. Implications for improve sex therapy outcomes are discussed., Author(s): Maria Manuela Peixoto [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.10210.32, 0000 0000 9215 0321, Centro de Investigação em Psicologia para o Desenvolvimento Positivo, Instituto de Psicologia e Ciências da Educação, Universidade [...]

Research on delay discounting and sex suggests that discounting measures correlate to risky sexual behavior. Dating applications are a growing trend in sexual partner seeking and dating culture, but the relationship between dating applications, delay discounting, and risky sexual behavior is relatively unknown. The present study sought to examine the relationship among reported dating application use, delay discounting, and risky sexual behavior. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire that included sexual history and dating-app status, a sexual risk survey, and a delay discounting task involving minutes of hypothetical sexual activity. Sexual discounting was significantly correlated with measures of sexual risk. The strength in correlation was higher for those using dating applications and nonexistent in those not using dating applications. No significant deferences existed between dating application users and abstainers for sexual risk or sexual discounting. The implications regarding safe sex practices are discussed. Keywords Delay discounting * Sexual discounting * Behavioral economics * Online dating * Risky sexual behavior, Reinforcement pathology attempts to understand suboptimal choice in domains of health (Bickel et al., 2017; Jarmolowicz et al., 2016) and suggests that there is dysregulation for some individuals in the [...]

What complicated, unsettling, contentious times these are for gender and sex, and thinking about the relationship of biology to either one. Traditionally, sex--the biology of female and male, usually defined [...]

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of single young adults' mating motives on their mating standards and the mechanisms that underlie this relationship within the context of gender imbalance in China. Accordingly, a sample of 505 single young adults responded to the Questionnaire of Contemporary Chinese People's Mating Preference and Risk Preference Questionnaire. The results revealed that among single young adults who perceived a gender imbalance, mating motives had a significant and negative effect on mating standards. Risk preference partially mediated the relationship between mating motives and standards among single young adults who perceived a gender imbalance. The mediating effect of risk preference on the relationship between mating motives and standards was moderated by age. Specifically as age increased, the mediating effect of risk preference weakened. It was concluded that age moderated the mediating effect of risk preference on the relationship between mating motives and standards among single young adults who perceived a gender imbalance., Author(s): Yanli Zhu [sup.1] , Chenbin Yi [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.207374.5, 0000 0001 2189 3846, Zhengzhou University, , Zhengzhou, Henan, China (2) grid.207374.5, 0000 0001 2189 3846, School of [...]