Prevalence and characteristics of sexual hookups among first-semester female college students

UROLOGICAL SURVEY

Neurology & Female Urology

Prevalence and characteristics of sexual hookups among first-semester female college students

Fielder RL, Carey MP

Center for Health and Behavior, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA

J Sex Marital Ther. 2010; 36: 346-59

First-semester female college students (N = 118) completed surveys to estimate the prevalence of sexual hookups and event-level assessments to clarify the behavioral characteristics of their most recent hookup. Hookups involving oral, vaginal, or anal sex were reported by 51% before college, 36% during their first semester, and 60% by the end of their first semester. Event-level analyses revealed that hookups were more likely to involve friends (47%) or acquaintances (23%) rather than strangers (14%); alcohol use (median = 3 drinks) preceded 64% of hookups. Condoms were used during 69% of vaginal sex hookups.

Editorial Comment

This article allows the reader to veritably gaze through the proverbial looking glass at the behavior of young female students just beginning their college career. The article states in its first paragraph that one of its goals is to describe what exactly "a hookup" is and how common are these hookups. The authors state that the use of the word hookup is not relegated only to oral or vaginal sex. In fact, they only describe 27% of the interactions as being truly sex. It seems that even when the brief interaction only includes sexual fondling or kissing, the interaction is felt to be classified as a hookup. Disconcerting for those hopelessly in love with one special person is that friends and acquaintances compromise 70% of the hookups and even strangers (14%) had a higher degree of hooking up than did ex-boyfriends (12%). Of specific interest to the urologist is the notation that condom use was never used for oral sex during these hookups and surprisingly in only 69% of those interactions involving vaginal sex. This statistic is of particular value to remember when examining a young female patient with the potential presentation of the first occurrence of genital herpes or paroxysmal voiding symptoms. The article is well worth the read especially with regards to the discussion and comparison of the characteristics of the casual affair versus the romantic relationship.

Dr. Steven P. Petrou

Professor of Urology, Associate Dean

Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education

Jacksonville, Florida, USA

E-mail: [e-mail]

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  06 Dec 2010
• Date of issue
  Oct 2010