Correlates and predictors of risky sexual practices among a multi-racial/ethnic sample of university students.

In this research we identify the correlates and predictors of risky sexual behaviors among an ethnically diverse sample of college students attending a large state university in the southeastern US (N = 338). Nine risk and 5 protective factors served as independent predictive factors in the analyses. The dependent variable was risky sexual behaviors scale score. Six of the 9 risk factors and 4 of the 5 protective factors were significantly correlated with scores on the risky sexual behaviors scale. Regression analyses identified 6 significant predictors of risky sexual practices: number of partners in last 6 months; religious values; condom attitudes; age at first sex; binging on alcohol; and residential locus. These terms explained 29.4% of the total variance in risky sexual behavior scores. Implications for prevention programs and future research are discussed.