You should know better! Do health students have different risk attitudes to unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases?

Because healthcare professionals are in the best position to assess, assist and educate those participating in risky sexual behaviour, understanding if (and how) their risk attitudes differ from the wider population is of vital importance. In this study, we explore university health students' r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inApplied economics letters Vol. 24; no. 21; pp. 1526 - 1532
Main Authors Whyte, Stephen, Lau, Esther T.L., Nissen, Lisa M., Torgler, Benno
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Routledge 15.12.2017
Taylor & Francis LLC
Subjects
Attitudes
College students
Economic analysis
Economic theory
Economics
Effectiveness studies
Global perspective
Health behavior
Health care
health students
Males
Medical personnel
Pregnancy
Risk
risk attitudes
Risk aversion
Risk behavior
Sexual attitudes
Sexual behavior
sexual behaviour
Sexually transmitted diseases
STD
STDs
Students
Unplanned pregnancy
Virginity
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Summary:Because healthcare professionals are in the best position to assess, assist and educate those participating in risky sexual behaviour, understanding if (and how) their risk attitudes differ from the wider population is of vital importance. In this study, we explore university health students' risk attitudes towards unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). We examine whether university students pursuing health-related degrees, who hypothetically should have more exposure to and understanding of the risks associated with unplanned pregnancy and STD, have more risk averse attitudes to sexual behaviour. We find that health students' sexual attitudes are significantly more risk averse than those of their nonhealth peers in relation to STDs but not unplanned pregnancy. In line with previous research, age and no previous sexual history (virginity) appear to increase risk-averse attitudes to both unplanned pregnancy and STDs. Moreover, males and singles are more risk seeking in their sexual attitudes. These findings suggest that, because unplanned pregnancy and STDs are ongoing global issues, further research is warranted into the risk attitudes of those healthcare professionals most able to provide education and support for individuals participating in risky sexual behaviour.
ISSN:1350-4851
1466-4291
DOI:10.1080/13504851.2017.1305085