Power dynamics in heterosexual relationships—which partner has the higher income, greater control over sexual and contraceptive decisions, and the stronger commitment to the relationship—may play a role in couples’ decisions to engage in risky behavior, according to "Sexual Risk-Taking Among Adult Dating Couples in the United States," by John O. G. Billy et al., published in the June 2009 issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. The authors measured risky behavior by looking at whether couples had had recent anal sex and whether they had done anything to protect themselves from STDs.

According to the new analysis of data collected from 335 dating heterosexual couples participating in the National Couples Survey, couples’ sexual behaviors are not completely controlled by either partner. Several characteristics of each partner are related to risk-taking. However, some of these—having known someone with AIDS, having had an STD and perceiving that getting AIDS would be bad—are linked to risky behavior only if the partner reporting these characteristics has enough power in the relationship to influence the sexual situation.

The analysis found that couples of lower education and income levels, couples in which the female partner has had a greater number of sexual partners and couples in which the male partner has a more traditional gender role ideology have an elevated likelihood of engaging in anal sex. By contrast, couples in which the female perceives a high risk of getting AIDS are less likely than others to engage in anal sex. Couples in which the male partner has a relatively high education and income are more likely than others to do nothing to protect themselves against STDs, suggesting that couples of higher socioeconomic status perceive their risk of STD infection as lower than their poorer peers.

Although using condoms and being monogamous reduce the incidence of STDs, the authors suggest that public health efforts to encourage condom use and monogamy underestimate the difficulty people have in practicing those behaviors. Instead, Billy and colleagues suggest that couples-based interventions take into consideration relationship and power dynamics to help couples initiate and sustain safer-sex practices.

Also in this issue:

Intimate Partner Violence Among Economically Disadvantaged Young Adult Women: Associations with Adolescent Risk-Taking and Pregnancy Experiences, by Lydia O’Donnell et al.;

It’s Better on TV: Does Television Set Teenagers Up for Regret Following Sexual Initiation? by Steven C. Martino et al.;

Second Births to Teenage Mothers: Risk Factors for Low Birth Weight and Preterm Birth, by Susan N. Partington et al.;

Barriers to Adolescents’ Getting Emergency Contraception Through Pharmacy Access in California: Differences by Language and Religion, by Olivia Sampson et al.;

Minors’ Behavioral Responses to Parental Involvement Laws: Delaying Abortion Until Age 18, by Silvie Colman and Ted Joyce.