Arousability as a predictor of sexual risk behaviours in African-American adolescent women
Jessica R. Wood A J , Robin R. Milhausen B C D , Jessica M. Sales C D , Cynthia A. Graham E F G , Stephanie A. Sanders E F H , Ralph J. DiClemente C D I and Gina M. Wingood C DA Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
B Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
C Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
D Emory Center for AIDS Research, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
E The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
F Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-3085, USA.
G Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton S017 1BJ, UK.
H Department of Gender Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7105, USA.
I Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, Epidemiology, and Immunology, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
J Corresponding author. Email: jwood03@uoguelph.ca
Sexual Health 10(2) 160-165 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH12055
Submitted: 24 April 2012 Accepted: 19 November 2012 Published: 5 April 2013
Abstract
This study examined the impact of sexual excitation (arousability) on sexual risk-taking behaviours in a community sample of African-American adolescent women. A sample of 701 African-American adolescent women completed measures examining their propensity for sexual arousal, impulsivity and sexual behaviour. Compared with women with a lower propensity for sexual arousability, women with a higher propensity reported a greater number of sexual partners, more inconsistent condom use, a greater likelihood of having engaged in sexual intercourse with ‘risky’ partners, and sex while high on alcohol or drugs. These results indicate that women who have a greater propensity to become sexually aroused in a variety of situations may be at a greater risk for contracting HIV or sexually transmissible infections relative to women with a lower propensity for arousal. This suggests that individual differences in the propensity to become sexually aroused should be considered when developing intervention approaches targeting young African-American women.
Additional keywords: condom use, female adolescents, sexual excitation, sexual risk-taking.
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