James Carolyn A, Hart Trevor A, Roberts Karen E, Ghai Amrita, Petrovic Bojana, Lima Michael D
Department of Psychology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada.
Sex Health. 2011 Sep;8(3):363-71. doi: 10.1071/SH09119.
Young adults in North America are at increasing risk for contracting HIV and sexually transmissible infections (STI). Racial differences in HIV or STI risk are well documented, but other cultural and demographic factors contributing to HIV or STI risk are poorly understood. Although religion may play an important role in sexual behaviour, little research has explored its association with sexual attitudes, beliefs and practices. The present study examined how ethnicity, religion, HIV knowledge and attitudes, and other demographic factors are associated with engaging in unprotected vaginal intercourse (UVI) in a diverse sample of unmarried young adults.
A cross-sectional study of 666 unmarried university students was conducted from 2005 to 2007, with participants completing an anonymous questionnaire on sexual attitudes and health for course credit.
Approximately 50% of the respondents had engaged in any vaginal intercourse and 32.2% had engaged in UVI in the past 6 months. Multivariable analyses showed that increasing age, being in a relationship for more than 6 months, greater HIV knowledge, stronger attitudes supporting the use of condoms, and religion (but not ethnicity) were associated with engaging in UVI. Among the sexually active subset of the sample (n=332), religion was the only predictor of engaging in UVI.
Ethnicity, which is often considered an important variable in sexual health research, does not appear to be associated with UVI when taking into account other demographic variables, particularly religion. Consideration of religion may be important in devising HIV prevention interventions, in order to implement them in accordance with particular religious beliefs.
北美年轻人感染艾滋病毒和性传播感染（STI）的风险日益增加。艾滋病毒或性传播感染风险方面的种族差异已有充分记录，但对导致艾滋病毒或性传播感染风险的其他文化和人口因素了解甚少。尽管宗教可能在性行为中发挥重要作用，但很少有研究探讨其与性态度、信念和行为的关联。本研究调查了种族、宗教、艾滋病毒知识与态度以及其他人口因素如何与不同样本的未婚年轻成年人进行无保护阴道性交（UVI）相关联。
2005年至2007年对666名未婚大学生进行了一项横断面研究，参与者为获得课程学分填写了一份关于性态度和健康的匿名问卷。
约50%的受访者在过去6个月内有过任何阴道性交，32.2%有过无保护阴道性交。多变量分析显示，年龄增长、恋爱超过6个月、艾滋病毒知识增加、支持使用避孕套的态度更强以及宗教（而非种族）与无保护阴道性交相关。在样本中有性活动的子集中（n = 332），宗教是进行无保护阴道性交的唯一预测因素。
在考虑其他人口变量，特别是宗教时，种族这一在性健康研究中常被视为重要变量的因素似乎与无保护阴道性交无关。在设计艾滋病毒预防干预措施时考虑宗教可能很重要，以便根据特定宗教信仰来实施这些措施。
