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• Posted November 15, 2024

Dating Apps Linked to More Hookups That Risk College Students' Health

College students who use dating apps are more likely to engage in risky sex, endangering their health, a new study shows.

Those using a dating app were 2.2 times to have had more than one sexual partner over the past year, and 1.4 times more likely to have had sex while under the influence of alcohol, researchers found.

Dating app users were also 1.8 times more likely to have undergone screening for HIV or other STDs, and 1.3 times more likely to have tested positive for an STD, results published Nov. 15 in the journal Frontiers in Reproductive Health showed.

However, it’s hard to say in which direction this relationship runs, said lead researcher Dr. Jaquetta Reeves, an assistant professor of nursing and health innovation with the University of Texas at Arlington.

“Causality between risky sexual behaviors and dating app use likely flows both ways,” Reeves said in a journal news release.

“Dating apps make it easier to find casual partners, which can lead to risky behaviors like inconsistent condom use,” Reeves explained. “Conversely, individuals already engaging in risky behaviors may turn to dating apps for partners who share similar practices.”

An ongoing epidemic of STDs in the United States has coincided with the growing use of dating apps, researchers said in background notes.

Chlamydia has more than doubled since 2000, syphilis has quadrupled and gonorrhea has increased by 40%, researchers noted. Young adults ages 20 to 34 have been most affected.

During roughly the same period, technology has made it easier than ever to find hookups. More than half of Americans under 30 have used a dating app, researchers noted.

For the new study, researchers used an anonymous online questionnaire to interview 122 college students ages 19 to 35 attending school in northern Texas.

White students were more likely than Black students to use dating apps, 47% versus 12%. App use was more common among men (64%) than women (33%), and more common among straight people (86%) than those identifying as gay or lesbian (14%).

Dating app users were 1.5 times more likely to have had their first sexual encounter between the ages of 16 and 19, compared to those whose first sex occurred at age 20 or later.

Researchers found no difference between app users and others when it came to who uses condoms during oral or vaginal sex. However, app users were 10% more likely to use a condom during anal sex, results showed.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on sexually transmitted diseases.

SOURCE: Frontiers, news release, Nov. 15, 2024