Sexually Transmitted Infections

As of 2008, it is estimated there are over 110 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States, with an additional 20 million new infections reported each year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2013). Not only are STIs increasingly prevalent, but their impact on health and well-being can be significant. HIV, for instance, directly leads to the death of 18,000 people in the U.S. each year and the direct medical costs associated with STIs approach $16 billion annually (CDC, 2013). Young people age 15-24 are particularly at risk, accounting for only 25% of the sexually active population, but making up 50% of newly diagnosed STIs (CDC, 2013).
For young people then, understanding one’s level of risk is crucial for maintaining their health. One strategy is to engage in safer-sex communication with one’s partner, which is a type of substantive communication that may include such topics as: (a) inquiring about a partners’ sexual history or revealing one’s own sexual history, (b) discussing and/or requesting contraceptive methods, or (c) inquiring about a partner’s STI/HIV serostatus or last date of testing (Noar, Carlyle, & Christi, 2006). The rationale for this strategy is that by finding out a potential partner has engaged in risky sexual behaviors, has been sexually indiscriminate, or has not recently been tested may indicate an elevated level of risk for contracting an STI (Lucchetti, 1999). Additionally, by discussing risk-related topics, this also opens the door for individuals to discuss and enact sexual precautions such as condoms (Anderson, Kunkel, & Dennis, 2010). Whereas some authors have doubted the effectiveness of this strategy (e.g., Cline, Johnson, & Freeman, 1992; Metts & Fitzpatrick, ...

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...e safer-sex communication practices, but that in actuality they don’t. Statements that did not clearly fit into either category were ignored and not coded. Therefore, our coding constitutes a fairly conservative estimate of the endorsement and rejection of each principle. Each coder independently coded roughly 10% of the data. Intercoder reliability was calculated using both simple agreement and Cohen’s Kappa. Simple agreement between coders ranged from .98 to 1.0, and Cohen’s Kappa ranged from .758 to 1.0 across the six principles for both committed and casual relationships (see Table 2). This level of intercoder reliability is considered exceptional for both measures (XXX). After establishment of acceptable intercoder reliability, any inconsistencies or questions were clarified. Following this, the coders independently coded the remaining transcripts on their own.