Relationships between body modifications and very high-risk behaviors in a college population

College Student Journal, June, 2002 by Terry D. Burger, Deborah Finkel

A body modification measure was developed that quantified the total number of body modifications. Those with body modifications were asked to list the number and type of body modifications they have, what part of their bodies were modified, and where they obtained their body modifications. In the current study, participation in body modification was interpreted as having at least one permanent tattoo or at least one body piercing. Pierced ears were not considered a body modification fro either men or women.

Procedure

All participants were required to sign an informed consent statement confirming their willingness to participate in the current study. All surveys were completed in the classroom under the direction and supervision of the first author. Students were given extra credit in their introductory psychology course for their participation in the study.

Results

General sample characteristics are presented in Table 1. Of the 117 participants, 30 reported having at least one body modification. Of those, 21 reported having at least one tattoo, while 28 reported having at least one piercing. Participants with body modification and without body modification did not differ significantly on any demographic measure. The mean number of body modifications in the total sample was 0.6 (SD=1.36).

Body Modification and High-Risk Behavior

To examine the current study's first hypothesis that a positive relationship exists between participation in body modification and other very high-risk activities, hierarchical regressions on the six risk variables were conducted. Gender was entered in the first step to correct for any gender differences. Body modification was entered in the second step. Gender was not included in the hierarchical regression for two of the six risk variables (Female Coercion and Male Coercion) as only females were asked to respond to the Female Coercion items and only males were asked to respond to the Male Coercion. Results are reported in table 2.

Gender added significantly to the prediction of two of the six high-risk behaviors. First, males reported significantly more participation in unsafe sexual practices with a stranger than females (R2 =.085, p<.01). Males also reported significantly more illegal drug use than females (R2 =.066, p<.05).

Body modification added significantly to the prediction of three of the six high-risk variables. Participants with body modifications were significantly more likely to participate in unsafe sexual practices with a stranger than were participants without (R2 change = .108, p<.001). Taken together, gender and body modification accounted for a total of 19.3 percent of the variance in unsafe sex with a stranger. Participants with body modifications also reported significantly higher levels of alcohol risk (R2 change = .092, p<.01). Body modification did add significantly to the prediction of Female Coercion (R2 =.207, p<.001). Again, gender was not included in the hierarchical regression of Female Coercion as only females were asked to respond to these items during data collection.