Abstract
Knowledge of sexual and reproductive health is believed to improve healthy sexual attitudes and behaviors, and decrease sexual risk-taking behaviors. Casual sexual relationships, such as one-night stand relationships, have become pervasive practices among heterosexual college students in the United States, despite imposing negative consequences on individuals’ sexual and reproductive health outcomes. This study employed a cross-sectional method to explore the relationship between the knowledge of sexual and reproductive health and a belief in one-night stand relationships among 804 university students in the United States. Participants answered a questionnaire from the World Health Organization, administrated through Qualtrics software. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis, and logistic regression analyses were performed. Significant findings were reported by unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios with 95% CI. The findings of this research showed that there was a positive relationship between the level of knowledge and a belief in a one-night stand relationship. The findings also showed that male students are more likely to report a belief in one-night stand relationships compared to female students. In addition, a large number of students did not receive information about condom use, and there was a significant negative correlation between being religious and a belief in one-night stands. This study offers insight into the inadequacy of sexual health knowledge among university students. It also suggests that gender-specific knowledge should be a necessary part of the sexual and reproductive health education programs. Clinical and public health implications are discussed.
Highlights
Sexual health encompasses the rights of all individuals to access the knowledge and have the opportunity to enjoy “a safe and threat-free sexual life” (WHO, 2010)
The report indicated that men and women aged 20–24 years had the highest rate of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea cases compared with other age groups, with 50% of new infections occurring within these populations (Habel et al, 2018; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2018)
To shed light on how sexual health knowledge associates with young people’s belief in casual sexual relationships, we studied the association between social-demographic characteristics, sources of knowledge, and level of knowledge with belief in one-night stand sexual relationship among a group of young adult college students
Summary
Sexual health encompasses the rights of all individuals to access the knowledge and have the opportunity to enjoy “a safe and threat-free sexual life” (WHO, 2010). The age group of 20–24 years old comprises the majority of college students, which have been identified as a high-risk population with an increased prevalence of sexual risk-taking behaviors (Habel et al, 2018; Katavić et al, 2020). Casual sexual relationships, such as one-night stands and hookups, have become pervasive practices among heterosexual college students in the United States, despite inherent physical, emotional, and social consequences on individuals’ lives (Garcia & Reiber, 2008; Gray et al, 2019; Napper et al, 2016).
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