Obstacles to condom use: the combination of other forms of birth control and short-term monogamy.

Two hundred thirty-seven college students involved in heterosexual relationships were surveyed to determine the effects of relationship type and use of forms of contraception other than condoms on condom use. Findings indicated that in the context of a short-term, monogamous relationship, the use of another form of birth control was associated with decreased condom use. In addition, 20% of the participants reported that they had wanted to use a condom for disease prevention on at least one occasion but had decided not to do so because they were using another form of contraception. Implications for preventive health are discussed.

PIP: Condom use is the only practice, aside from abstinence, which reliably protects against both sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancies. While oral contraceptives are more effective in preventing pregnancy and are often preferred over condoms, condoms are generally used for birth control. Since young people mainly view condoms as a form of contraception, they may believe it is unnecessary to use both condoms and other forms of birth control when having sex. Some sexually active people at risk of STDs and pregnancy may therefore use one effective method of contraception at the expense of condom use. 109 male and 128 female students at a large southwestern university involved in heterosexual relationships were surveyed to determine the effects of relationship type and use of forms of contraception other than condoms upon condom use. Study participants were aged 16-51 years of mean age 22.6, 76% were Caucasian, 14% Black, 5% Hispanic, and 4% Asian American. The students reported having an average of 2.2 sex partners during the past year, with 42% reporting having had 2 or more partners during the period. Survey responses indicate that in the context of a short-term, heterosexual, monogamous relationship, the use of another form of birth control was associated with decreased condom use. 20% of participants reported that they had wanted to use a condom for disease prevention on at least one occasion, but had decided not to do so because they were using another form of contraception.

Sexual aggression and victimization in dating relationships among Chinese college students.

Sexual victimization in dating relationships among female Chinese college students in Hong Kong was studied. Findings were compared to Chinese males' self-reports of sexual aggression. Nonstranger sexual victimization was common among Chinese female college students, especially for less intimate forms of sexual contact. Prevalence of sexual victimization was similar to that in North America for less intimate forms of contact but less prevalent for more intimate contact, including rape. A greater proportion of women than men reported the experience of several behaviors engaged in against a woman's will. These included kissing, and touching a woman's hand, knee, leg, or crotch.

Object relations of sexually abused female subjects: a TAT analysis.

TAT stories of 17 sexually abused female subjects and a clinical group of 25 female subjects with no documented history of sexual abuse were analyzed using the Object Relations and Social Cognition Scoring System (Western, Lohr, Silk, Kerber, & Goodrich, 1985). Subjects ranged in age from 5 to 16 years. As predicted, mean scores on a measure of overall object relations were significantly different between groups. Specifically, the mental representations of subjects in the abuse group were characterized by more primitive and simple characterizations of people, more negative and punitive affect in their perceptions of the interpersonal world, an inability to invest in people and relationships in other than need-gratifying ways, and an inability to make sensible attributions of self and others. Abuse subjects also produced more pathological responses overall than did their nonabuse counterparts, indicating a tendency toward more extreme and immature functioning. These group differences were independent of any contribution of age and a measure of verbal productivity. Treatment and diagnostic implications are discussed.

Measurement of sexual aggression in college men: a methodological analysis.

Researchers have devoted increased attention in recent years to the measurement of sexual aggression in college populations. This review describes and critically examines current methods of measuring sexual aggression which rely on a self-reported history of such behavior. We suggest that the construct validity of these approaches can be enhanced through a systematic consideration of instrumentation and methodological issues. Twenty-six empirical studies were evaluated with regard to sample characteristics such as size, type, representativeness, and subject exclusion criteria, as well as study design, measurement method, statistics reported, use of debriefing, and control for socially desirable response bias. Specific instrumentation methodology to measure a self-reported history of sexual aggression was examined in detail.

Sexual and aggressive motives in sexually aggressive college males.

The relative contributions to sexual aggression of general sexual and aggressive motives and their respective inhibitory factors were compared. One hundred forty-three university males responded to self-report measures of sexual and aggressive drives, sex and hostility guilt, social desirability response bias, and history of coercive sexuality. With the effects of social desirability controlled, the only predictor of sexual aggression was Sex Guilt, which predicted level of force used but not intimacy of the sexual act obtained.

Splitting as a predictor of depression.

146 university students completed measures of splitting, depression, and self-esteem. Splitting was positively correlated with depression and negatively related to self-esteem.

Depression and judgment of control: impact of a contingency on accuracy.

In this study we sought to determine whether mild depressives and nondepressives could respond adaptively and self-correct their judgments of contingency when it was clearly advantageous to do so. Ninety-six undergraduates were given four contingency-learning tasks involving pressing or not pressing a key to turn on a light and to judge the degree of control their responses had over light onset. On the first task, which included a monetary contingency only on light onset, mild depressives were relatively accurate in their judgments of control. Tasks 2 through 4, which also included a monetary contingency and feedback on accuracy of judgment of control, showed a Mood x Task interaction. Mild depressives, but not nondepressives, became more accurate, and by the last task, mild depressives were more accurate than nondepressives. Results were discussed in terms of incentive, feedback, and task exposure.

Placebo effects in the treatment of male dating anxiety.

The outcomes of cognitive-behavioral and high credibility placebo group treatments were compared in a sample of nineteen heterosocially anxious males. At post-test and at a 3-month follow-up, both treatments showed improvement on self-report measures of interpersonal functioning (ps less than 0.05). The cognitive-behavioral treatment showed a consistent pattern of improvement on self-report and behavioral measures of anxiety (ps less than 0.05), but, overall, the groups showed comparable levels of effectiveness. The possibility that both treatments relied on placebo mechanisms is discussed.

Vaginal pulse amplitude response patterns during erotic conditions and sleep.

Vaginal photoplethysmography has been used to investigate sexual arousal response patterns in small samples of sexually functional and dysfunctional women, but selection of subjects for these studies has not been of a standardized nature. In the present study, two groups of women, who placed in either the upper or lower percentile ranks on the Sexual Arousal Inventory (Hoon et al., 1976a), were compared on a physiological measure of sexual arousal, vaginal pulse amplitude (VPA), during both waking erotic conditions and sleep. As hypothesized, no differences in VPA were found between groups during either waking or sleeping conditions. Contrary to expectation, groups also did not differ on subjective ratings of their laboratory arousal. With both groups combined, differences in VPA levels were evident between baseline and erotic conditions. Similarly, VPA levels differed between stages of sleep, with highest levels observed during rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. These findings suggest that self-reported low arousability is not based on lack of physiological response and that retrospective, self-report measures of sexual arousability differ in important ways from subjective and physiological measures of sexual arousal in the laboratory. In order to adequately assess sexual arousability, future researchers must either devise laboratory conditions that more closely resemble erotic stimuli occurring in subjects' natural environments or validate physiological measures of arousal in nonlaboratory settings. Finally, the nocturnal evaluation of VPA seems potentially useful for cases in which organic factors may be contributing to sexual dysfunction.

Hypnotic susceptibility, inhibitory control, and orgasmic consistency.

Willingness to relinquish control, as evidenced by hypnotic susceptibility, enjoyment of alcohol, and inability to control thoughts and movements near the end of coitus, was found in this study to be predictive of the consistency with which females reported experiencing orgasm during sexual intercourse.

Physical attractiveness, romantic love, and equity restoration in dating relationships.

Measures of physical attractiveness, romantic love, and dominance were given to a sample of 123 dating couples. Contrary to expectation, attractive subjects were not loved more than those judged as less attractive. As suggested by equity theory, however, subjects who believed that their partners were the more attractive member of the dyad loved their partners more (p < .05) and indicated greater submission in their relationships (p < .01) than those who believed that they were the more attractive member. The results suggest that as the dating relationship progresses, the relative difference in attractiveness between partners may become a more important determinant of attraction than overall level of attractiveness.