A qualitative assessment of college students' perceptions of health behaviors

American Journal of Health Studies, Spring-Summer, 2003 by Raffy R. Luquis, Erica Garcia, Darlene Ashford

Students were also asked what type of sexual issues they face in college. For the most part, students are concerned about pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, condom use, sexual responsibilities/consequences, sexual harassment and rape. Some of them said that they were more concerned about pregnancy than STDs. Most students reported apprehension in seeking STD testing and counseling from the University Health Center because they were concerned about confidentiality. In every group, Planned Parenthood was mentioned as a viable and acceptable place to go to receive any examination and/or treatment for STDs and/or pregnancy.

In regard to communication with current and future sex partners, students expressed several points of view. Participants who advocated communication said that "[it is] a must," "should discuss always, because whomever you sleep with, they are sleeping with," "if it is a person who you care about--you will take the time to talk about it," and "if it's a long-term relationship then you talk about it". In contrast, students who did not endorse communication mentioned that the "need to talk to partners only if you are serious about relationship," "some people lie about it [sexual history], so it doesn't make a difference," and a male said "she doesn't need to know [about my sexual history] unless there is an STD problem."

When asked about contraceptive use, most students agreed that both partners should take equal responsibility for the use of contraceptives. Most of them emphasized that it is important to use condoms. However, when probed about how many of them and their friends used condoms, only half of them reported that they or their friends use condoms consistently. Relationship type mattered with students saying that it is important to use condoms in a casual relationship, but less so in a steady relationship. For example, a male student said, "I have a friend, who if be is sleeping with someone who is not his girlfriend, he will always use a condom," and then added, "if he sleeps with his girlfriend who is on the pill, then he never uses a condom." Finally, they all agreed that condoms should be more accessible on campus (i.e., health center, residence halls). In their view, if the University would provide condoms, then more students would use them.

DISCUSSION

In this study, we found that, although college students continue to engage in unhealthy behaviors, the majority of the students remain concerned about risky health behaviors. First, most students acknowledged and believed that, while in college, it is difficult to stay healthy. Most young people in college find themselves in a transition period, wherein they can behave as they want without realizing the long-term consequences. Moreover, many students believed that they are expected to engage in these behaviors (i.e., drinking, smoking, unhealthy eating) while in college. Many students believed that part of the reason why they engage in unhealthy behaviors, such as lack of physical activity and poor eating habits, stems from the lack of access to facilities that support healthy behaviors. It seems that those structural services (i.e., dining hall, recreation facilities) offered by universities to help students during this transition are failing to satisfy their needs. In our particular case, these results were immediately shared with the administration with recommendations to further explore the students' concerns regarding the availability of healthy food and usage of recreational facilities and possibilities for improvement.