Book Description

"Black women are one of the fastest growing minority populations on United States (US) college campuses. In addition, they are disproportionately burdened by the sexually transmitted infection (STI) and HIV epidemics facing young adults. Despite these deleterious health outcomes, little is known about the sexual behaviors and factors that affect Black college women's sexual health. One avenue of sexual health research with potential to shed light on this population's sexual behavior and risk is hookup culture. The 'hookup'--a casual sexual encounter between individuals without the expectation of a dating or romantic relationship--has become increasingly prevalent on US college campuses with 60-80% of students reporting at least one hookup experience during their college career. Considering that young adults aged 15-24 account for half of new STI diagnoses in the US each year, hookups present a potential health risk to college students. However, the existing hookup literature is overwhelming White and female, and often exclusive of historically marginalized populations such as Black women. The data resulting from predominantly White, female samples creates generalizations and assumptions regarding prototypical hookup behaviors and experiences among college students, which may inadvertently mask important racial/ethnic differences in sexual behaviors and corresponding risks. The masking of Black women's experiences could lead to the oversight of possible risk and protective factors that influence their sexual and reproductive health. The near absence of Black women in the literature is indicative of a need for intersectional research examining the possible role of race and gender on hookup participation. The purpose of this dissertation study was two-fold. The first goal was to quantitatively examine the intersecting relationship of race and gender and its association with hookup attitudes and condomless vaginal sex during hookups. The study also explored the association between pre-hookup relationship intentions and condomless vaginal sex. The second goal of the study was to qualitatively describe Black college women's perceptions of and attitudes toward hookup culture on their respective college campuses. The two papers included in this dissertation addressed the following research questions: (1) "What is the association between the intersection of race and gender and attitudes toward hookups?" and (2) "What is the association between pre-hookup relationship intentions, race, gender and condom use during last vaginal hookup encounter?" Preliminary findings from the qualitative phase of the study are also discussed. In all, the quantitative findings from this study indicated that both race and gender were statistically, significantly associated with college students' attitudes toward hooking up. Black students and female students held more conservative attitudes toward hooking up than their White and male counterparts, respectively. Further, both race and gender were statistically, significantly associated and condom use during last vaginal hookup. Black students and male students were more likely to report condom use during their last vaginal hookup when compared to their White and female counterparts, respectively. Pre-hookup relationship intentions were also found to play a significant role in condom use at last vaginal hookup. Students who desired a relationship with their hookup partner were less likely to report condom use than those who had no desire or were unsure of their relationship intentions. In both studies, the interaction between race and gender was found to have no influence on attitudes toward hooking up and condom use during last vaginal hookup. The preliminary qualitative findings from the focus groups suggest that Black college women's sexual attitudes and experiences of romantic and casual sexual relationships with hookup culture are influenced by both racial and gendered stereotypes and expectations of appropriate sexual behavior. Accordingly, future research should further examine the intersectional influences of race and gender on Black college women's sexual experiences to enhance our understanding of the sexual health disparities facing this population and inform culturally congruent interventions."--Abstract from author supplied metadata.