Abstract
Objective
The present study focuses on factors that predict sexual risk behaviors and sexual health screening behaviors in a sample of university students in Lebanon.
Participants
A convenience sample of 250 undergraduate students was recruited at a private university in Beirut, Lebanon.
Methods
Students completed measures of religiosity, psychological distress, contraceptives usage, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted infections (STI) screening, and sexual risk behaviors.
Results
Religiosity was negatively associated with a range of risky sexual behaviors whereas psychological distress was positively associated with these behaviors. Sex under the influence of alcohol/drugs, discussing methods of contraception, and engaging in sexual activities later regretted had significant effects on having had condomless vaginal sex. Gender (being female) and sex under the influence of alcohol had significant effects on STIs screening.
Conclusion
Interventions that focus on managing drug and alcohol use in students, unwanted pregnancy, religion, stigma related to screening, and sexual health education are recommended.
The present study focuses on factors that predict sexual risk behaviors and sexual health screening behaviors in a sample of university students in Lebanon.
Participants
A convenience sample of 250 undergraduate students was recruited at a private university in Beirut, Lebanon.
Methods
Students completed measures of religiosity, psychological distress, contraceptives usage, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted infections (STI) screening, and sexual risk behaviors.
Results
Religiosity was negatively associated with a range of risky sexual behaviors whereas psychological distress was positively associated with these behaviors. Sex under the influence of alcohol/drugs, discussing methods of contraception, and engaging in sexual activities later regretted had significant effects on having had condomless vaginal sex. Gender (being female) and sex under the influence of alcohol had significant effects on STIs screening.
Conclusion
Interventions that focus on managing drug and alcohol use in students, unwanted pregnancy, religion, stigma related to screening, and sexual health education are recommended.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of American College Health |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 8 Apr 2021 |
Bibliographical note
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon inany way.
Keywords
- Lebanon
- religion
- sexual health
- sexually transmitted infections
- university