Family Environment and Social Skill 3
Family Environment Factors, Self-Rated Social Skill, and Condom Usage: Implications for
“Safer” Sex Behavior
Throughout the past two decades researchers have devoted attention to issues associated
with the most currently salient health epidemic around the world: Human Immunodeficiency
Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Recently, the threat of
contracting HIV has grown to a larger, less specific group of individuals including heterosexual
adolescents and college students (Clark, Miller, Harrison, Kay & Moore, 1996; Cline, Freeman
& Johnson, 1990; Crawford et al., 1990).
As a group, college students are at above average risk for contracting HIV as a function
of their sexual activity, multiple sexual partners, and experimentation with alcohol and drugs
(Cline et al., 1990, Crawford et al., 1990; Fisher & Misovich, 1990; Kelly, St. Lawrence &
Brasfield, 1991; Lear, 1995). Cline and McKenzie (1994) reported that between 75-85% of
college students are sexually active, while Powell and Segrin (in press) found that nearly 90% of
college student dating couples reported being sexually active within the past six months.
Heterosexual college students in a dating relationship provide a unique challenge to those
advocating “safer” sex behaviors. In general, these individuals perceive themselves to be in
“safe” relationships despite the fact that they often practice serial monogamy and often report
sexual behavior with multiple partners over relatively short periods of time (e.g., Hammer,
Fisher, Fitzgerald, & Fisher, 1996, Metts & Fitzpatrick, 1992; Williams et al., 1992). However, it
seems clear that these individuals engage in “unsafe” sexual behavior, not because of a lack of
concern for their health, but rather because of the priority of their relationship. In one study,
participants reported that “safer” sex is related to the level of trust and intimacy of the
relationship and insisting on condom use or HIV testing was often seen as indicative of less trust