Related Experiment Videos
"First, I… then, we…": exploring the sequence of sexual acts and safety strategies reported during a sexual encounter
Vanessa R Schick1, Aleta Baldwin2, Laina Y Bay-Cheng3
1Department of Management, Policy, and Community Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
Objectives:
Assessments of sexual safety often rely on questions about the occurrence of condom use within a designated timeline, assuming that penile-vaginal intercourse (PVI) occurred once at the conclusion of the event. An investigation of all sexual acts and safety strategies that occur during a single event may present a more nuanced picture of sexual risk.
Methods:
Behaviourally, bisexual women (N=45) were recruited due to the potential diversity of their sexual behaviour and safety strategies. A modified timeline follow-back method, the SEQUENCE Calendar, was designed to capture information about the participants' most recent sexual event with a male partner, including the order of each sexual act during the sexual event. Interviews took between 1 and 3 h. These acts were compiled into narratives and the behavioural sequences were reviewed and coded.
Results:
Participants reported an average of 7.9 (SD=4.3) sexual acts. Over a third (35.9%, N=14) of the participants who reported PVI indicated engaging in genital contact after PVI and over 15% (N=6) of these participants reporting PVI at two different time points, separated by sexual behaviour. Additional potential for infection outside of condom use and PVI was also identified.
Conclusions:
Sexual interactions are comprised of multiple acts that occur in a variety of permutations. Understanding the complexity of people's sexual encounters has potential to inform the ways we measure condom use and consider sexual safety.