Individuals who drink heavily are at a greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases since they are more likely to have multiple sexual partners, according to Psychiatrist Patricia Cavazos-Rehg, a researcher at the Washington University School of Medicine.
She studied 601 unmarried individuals between the ages of 18 and 25 to find a correlation between alcohol use and the number of sexual partners.
“As a person’s drinking becomes more problematic, then the individual could be engaging in more problematic, risky behavior such as having sexual intercourse with random partners or different partners,” she said. “If a person has a problem with substance use, what other risky behaviors are related to that?”
The study found that, on average, participants had more than nine sexual partners and those considered alcohol dependent had nearly 12 partners on average.
Of the participants who were identified as alcohol dependent, 45 percent had more than 10 sexual partners; having more than 10 partners is considered high-risk sexual activity.
Cavazos-Rehg also said that the study gives a better idea of what role alcohol plays in sexual activity and its implications for public health.
“If a person comes in for heavy drinking or alcohol dependence problems, [we can] at that same time test them for STDs [or] provide them with education about using protection,” said Cavazos-Rehg. “In this age group, the spread of STDs has escalated quite a bit recently.”
The study states “prevention efforts should target these high risk individuals because they are at risk for STD transmission and other serious consequences.”
The individuals involved in the study all had a relative with some kind of substance dependency but the study can still be applied to a wide segment of the general population because many people are in a similar situation.
“It’s estimated that one out of four persons [in the general public] have a substance dependent person in their family,” said Cavazos-Rehg. “We’re not talking about a small amount of people in the population.”
Several studies have already addressed binge drinking and other high-risk behaviors, especially in college-age individuals, but this study differed because it addressed those that had been diagnosed with alcohol dependence.
The study also attempted to report issues that are more specific than just “heavy drinking” in self-reported surveys, through the use of clinical diagnoses given by a trained interviewer.
Related studies have been done in the past, but this one stands out because of its focus on clinical diagnoses.
The study also differed from previous research because other studies usually considered lower numbers of sex partners.
“I haven’t seen any studies that actually look at more than six partners, so this study is also new in that way. We were looking at a higher number of sex partners,” said Cavazos-Rehg.
Other studies on how alcohol use influences sexual activity are in progress as well, including the age at which an individual first engages in sexual intercourse.
Freshman Ben Ingell was not surprised by the results of the study.
“I could [understand] that. I think the drinking on this campus is about average,” said Ingell.
The study utilized the Diagnostic Statistical Manual to determine which individuals qualified as alcohol dependent. Criteria include withdrawal symptoms, interference with work or school and hazardous behavior. Multiple criteria must often be met for an individual to be classified as substance dependent. The most prominent symptoms are heavy and persistent use of alcohol.