Diary study of sexual risk taking, alcohol use, and strategies for reducing negative affect in female college students.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to examine motivations for engaging in risky sexual behaviors (RSBs) and factors that may increase the likelihood of engaging in RSB. RSB was defined as not using condoms during intercourse and having intercourse with poorly known partners, which were treated separately with regard to analyses. METHOD: Utilizing a weekly diary methodology, the present study examined whether using situation-specific coping strategies (e.g, using alcohol to reduce negative affect and sex to reduce negative affect) and whether subjective reports of intoxication significantly predicted if participants would engage in RSB. Female college students (N = 93) completed a weekly computerized questionnaire for 8 weeks reporting on their sexual behavior, their level of intoxication, and use of strategies (i.e., sex and alcohol) to reduce negative affect at the time of the sexual encounter. RESULTS: Using hierarchical linear modeling, results indicated that level of intoxication was the sole significant main effect related to engaging in RSB; specifically, level of intoxication was positively related to sex with a poorly known partner. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol use, as opposed to motivation for intercourse, is an important area to focus on with regard to prevention of RSB.

A comparison of methods for collecting self-report data on sensitive topics.

Insufficient attention has been paid to whether disclosure rates of sensitive or stigmatizing information vary as a function of method of inquiry. Methods vary both in terms of the anonymity afforded the participant and the opportunity to make a connection with the researcher, both of which might affect participants' willingness to disclose such information. In this investigation, 215 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to complete identical questionnaires using one of the three most common methods of data collection (in-person interview, telephone interview, and paper-and-pencil questionnaire) or an automated telephonic data collection (ATDC) system. Questions on six topic areas of increasing social sensitivity (study habits, substance use, physical and sexual aggression, victimization and perpetration) were included. The results indicated that there were no differences in disclosure rates due to methods and no method by topic interaction, but the two telephonic methods both produced significantly higher participation rates than the two other methods. The results suggest that, at least for a college student sample, an automated telephonic system produces data comparable to that of more traditional methods, while offering greater convenience, economy, and participation.

Effects of method on participants and disclosure rates in research on sensitive topics.

This study replicates and extends the research of Rosenbaum, Rabenhorst, Reddy, Fleming, and Howells, which also appears in this special issue. Responses from 398 randomly assigned participants regarding differentially sensitive topics were collected via four methods of data collection: written questionnaires, face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, and an automated telephonic data collection system (ATDC). Several significant differences in data collection methodology and topic area were found, including greater disclosure of sensitive information via the ATDC system than via face-to-face and paper-and-pencil conditions. Participants who were assigned to the ATDC condition felt significantly more comfortable answering questions compared to those in the face-to-face interview condition. Participants in the telephone interview condition reported answering significantly more carefully than participants answering via written questionnaire. Taken together, the results of this study and the previous one it replicates suggest that the ATDC produces disclosure rates that are at least equivalent to, if not greater than, those generated using traditional methods for collecting sensitive data.