Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kurt H. Kurt H. Dermen and Sherilyn N. Sherilyn N. The present study tested the proposition that an intervention to reduce alcohol use among college students will also reduce their risky sexual behavior.
In a randomized, controlled trial, heavy-drinking, predominantly White, heterosexual college students at behavioral risk for infection with HIV and other STDs were assigned to receive no intervention or a two-session, in-person, motivational interviewing-based intervention focused on either: a reducing alcohol risk behavior, b reducing HIV risk behavior, or c reducing both alcohol and HIV risk behavior. Three-month retrospective assessments of alcohol use and sexual behavior were conducted at intake and at 3-, 6-, 9-, , and month follow-up appointments.
During follow-up, participants who received the single-focus Alcohol risk-reduction intervention drank less frequently and consumed fewer drinks per drinking day compared to no-intervention control participants, but did not differ from control participants in their frequency of intercourse without a condom or number of sexual partners. Participants who received the single-focus HIV risk-reduction intervention evidenced fewer unprotected sex events during follow-up, compared to control participants.
The number of sexual partners reported during follow-up did not differ by condition. Effects of the interventions did not vary significantly over time and were not moderated by participant gender.
Results suggest that intervening to reduce alcohol use may not reduce risky sexual behavior among non-minority college students, but that a brief motivational intervention targeting HIV risk behavior may have utility for reducing the frequency of unprotected sex in this population. Keywords: alcohol use, sexual behavior, HIV risk, motivational interviewing, college students, randomized controlled trial.
