Why are some college students more likely to 'hook up'?

Miriam Hospital researchers identify predictors of hookup behaviors among first-year college women

2013-06-20

(Press-News.org) (PROVIDENCE, R.I.) – Casual, no-strings sexual encounters are increasingly common on college campuses, but are some students more likely than others to "hook up"? A new study by researchers with The Miriam Hospital's Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine, published online by the Archives of Sexual Behavior, suggests there are certain factors and behaviors associated with sexual hookups, particularly among first-year college women.

"Given the potential for negative emotional and physical health outcomes as a result of sexual hookups, including unplanned pregnancy and depression, it is important to identify the factors that influence hookup behavior," said lead author Robyn L. Fielder, M.S., a research intern at The Miriam Hospital's Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine.

Fielder and her team surveyed 483 incoming first-year female college students about their risk behaviors, personality traits and social environment. Specific questions covered the students' sexual behavior, hookup attitudes and intentions, self-esteem, religious beliefs, parents' relationship status, alcohol and marijuana use, smoking, impulsivity and sensation-seeking behavior. Researchers followed up with the women monthly for eight months.

"Our findings suggest hooking up during the first year of college is influenced by pre-college hookups, personality, behavioral intentions, the social and situational context, family background and substance use patterns – particularly marijuana use," said Fielder.

According to Fielder, this is believed to be the first study to explore marijuana use as a predictor of hooking up, even though previous research has linked marijuana use to risky sexual behavior and marijuana has been shown to impair judgment and reduce inhibitions.

But overall, pre-college hookups emerged as the strongest predictor of hooking up during freshmen year, suggesting early hookup experiences may provide a personal model for future behavior.

"These findings suggest that women's hookup behavior during the first year of college may influence their hookup behavior later in college," said Fielder. "That's why the transition to college is an important time for health care professionals to provide sexual health information and resources to help women make informed choices."

But at the same time, she said it's also important to consider the array of individual, social and contextual factors when studying hookup behavior. "Focusing on any one area of influence fails to capture the complicated matrix of forces that influence young adults' relationship decisions," Fielder added.

### The study was published online on May 9, 2013. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism under award number R21-AA018257. Study co-authors include Michael P. Carey, Ph.D., director of The Miriam Hospital's Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine; Jennifer Walsh, Ph.D., of The Miriam Hospital's Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine; and Kate B. Carey, Ph.D., of Brown University.

Robyn L. Fielder, M.S., is completing a research placement at The Miriam Hospital (a member hospital of the Lifespan health system in Rhode Island) as part of her clinical psychology internship at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

About The Miriam Hospital The Miriam Hospital is a 247-bed, not-for-profit teaching hospital affiliated with The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. It offers expertise in cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, men's health, and minimally invasive surgery and is home to the state's first Joint Commission-certified Stroke Center and robotic surgery program. The hospital is nationally known for its HIV/AIDS and behavioral and preventive medicine research, including weight control, physical activity and smoking cessation. The Miriam Hospital has been awarded Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Services four consecutive times and is a founding member of the Lifespan health system. Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter (@MiriamHospital).

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans are on prescription drugs, Mayo Clinic study finds

2013-06-20

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half take two, Mayo Clinic researchers say. Antibiotics, antidepressants and painkilling opioids are most commonly prescribed, their study found. Twenty percent of patients are on five or more prescription medications, according to the findings, published online in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings. MULTIMEDIA ALERT: For audio and video of Dr. Jennifer St. Sauver talking about the study, visit the Mayo Clinic News Network. (http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/) Researchers ...

Sequentially expressed genes in neural progenitors create neural diversity, NYU biologists find

2013-06-20

A team of New York University biologists has found that a series of genes sequentially expressed in brain stem cells control the generation of neural diversity in visual system of fruit flies. Their results are reported in the latest issue of the journal Nature. In order for the brain to properly develop and function, a vast array of different types of neurons and glia must be generated from a small number of progenitor cells. By better understanding the details of this process, scientists can develop ways to recognize and remedy a range of neural afflictions such as ...

Expressly unfit for the laboratory

2013-06-20

A new study challenges the orthodoxy of microbiology that in response to environmental changes, bacterial genes will boost production of needed proteins and decrease production of those that aren't. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) found that for bacteria in the laboratory there was little evidence of adaptive genetic response. In fact, most bacterial genes appear to be regulated by signals unrelated to their function. "Gene regulation in bacteria is usually described as an adaptive response to ...

Scientists date prehistoric bacterial invasion still present in today's cells

2013-06-20

Long before plants and animals inhabited the earth, when life consisted of single-celled organisms afloat in a planet-wide sea, bacteria invaded these organisms and took up permanent residence. One bacterium eventually became the mitochondria that today power all plant and animal cells; another became the chloroplast that turns sunlight into energy in green plants. A new analysis by two University of California, Berkeley, graduate students more precisely pinpoints when these life-changing invasions occurred, placing the origin of photosynthesis in plants hundreds of millions ...

Genetics of cervical cancer raise concern about antiviral therapy in some cases

2013-06-20

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new understanding of the genetic process that can lead to cervical cancer may help improve diagnosis of potentially dangerous lesions for some women, and also raises a warning flag about the use of anti-viral therapies in certain cases – suggesting they could actually trigger the cancer they are trying to cure. The analysis provides a clearer picture of the chromosomal and genetic changes that take place as the human papillomavirus sometimes leads to chronic infection and, in less than 1 percent of cases, to cervical cancer. It is the first to identify ...

Metamorphosis of moon's water ice explained

2013-06-20

DURHAM, N.H. –- Using data gathered by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission, scientists believe they have solved a mystery from one of the solar system's coldest regions—a permanently shadowed crater on the moon. They have explained how energetic particles penetrating lunar soil can create molecular hydrogen from water ice. The finding provides insight into how radiation can change the chemistry of water ice throughout the solar system. Space scientists from the University of New Hampshire and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have published their results ...

UMass Amherst researchers develop powerful new technique to study protein function

2013-06-20

AMHERST, Mass. – In the cover story for the journal Genetics this month, neurobiologist Dan Chase and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst describe a new experimental technique they developed that will allow scientists to study the function of individual proteins in individual cell types in a living organism. The advance should allow deeper insights into protein function, Chase says, "because we can only get a true understanding of what that single protein does when we isolate its function in a living organism. There was no tool currently available to ...

Study shows probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri NCIMB 30242 significantly increased vitamin D levels

2013-06-20

Montreal, June 19, 2013 – A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism is the first report of an oral probiotic supplement significantly increasing circulating vitamin D levels in the blood. The lead author on the study, Mitchell Jones, MD, PhD, received the Early Career Investigator Poster Presentation Prize from the New York Academy of Sciences and the Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science at last week's Probiotics, Prebiotics, and the Host Microbiome: The Science of Translation conference in New York City(1). The study(2) , a post-hoc ...

Fate of the heart: Researchers track cellular events leading to cardiac regeneration

2013-06-20

In a study published in the June 19 online edition of the journal Nature, a scientific team led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine visually monitored the dynamic cellular events that take place when cardiac regeneration occurs in zebrafish after cardiac ventricular injury. Their findings provide evidence that various cell lines in the heart are more plastic, or capable of transformation into new cell types, than previously thought. More importantly, the research reveals a novel potential source of cells for regenerating damaged ...

Neurosurgery publishes findings of 3 important studies in June issue

2013-06-20

Philadelphia, Pa. (June 19, 2013) – The results of three important studies have been published in the June issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. One study indicates that continuous "machine learning" using artificial neural networks (ANNs) may improve the ability to predict survival in patients with advanced brain cancers. Another study in the June Neurosurgery supports increased use of stereotactic biopsy for obtaining samples of brainstem ...

Following a 2005 policy, episiotomy rates have reduced in France without an overall increase in anal sphincter injuries during labor, with more research needed to confirm the safest rate of episiotomi

Why are some college students more likely to 'hook up'?

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: