Now, according to a new study appearing in the Journal of Adolescent Health, Children’s researchers have established that the CRAFFT diagnostic test can also identify teens that are more likely to be engaging in high risk sexual behaviors.

The studies researchers found that teens who screened positive for substance use had significantly greater odds of having sexual contact after using drugs or alcohol. According to the findings, these teens were more likely to have unprotected sex, multiple sexual partners and even a sexually transmitted illness. The cross-sectional survey consisted of 305 adolescents from ages 12- to 18-years-old in 3 different urban clinics. Participants were asked the CRAFFT questions, and also completed a self-administered questionnaire about high risk sexual behaviors. Of those who screened positive, 42.6% reported having sexual contact without a condom, 26.1% after drinking alcohol, 15.6% after drug use and 21.7% with a partner who had been drinking alcohol.

more…

The five-year study examined 634 workers in factories in China, comparing workers in BPA manufacturing facilities with a control group of workers in factories where no BPA was present. The study found that the workers in the BPA facilities had quadruple the risk of erectile dysfunction, and seven times more risk of ejaculation difficulty.

This is the first research study to look at the effect of BPA on the male reproductive system in humans. Previous animal studies have shown that BPA has a detrimental effect on male reproductive system in mice and rats.

more…

Biological Psychiatry

, suggests that it has something to do with the way that we control the activity of the prefrontal cortex, a brain region thought to orchestrate our thoughts and actions.

Researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine examined women who had been the victims of violent sexual assault, some of whom developed PTSD and others who did not develop any serious emotional symptoms afterwards. Using a brain imaging technique, they evaluated the ability of these women to voluntarily modify their own responses to unpleasant emotional stimuli and found that it was the trauma history itself, not how well they endured this sort of trauma, that influenced their ability to dampen subsequent emotional responses.

more…

As a result, they say, far more research is needed to prove what has been a long-held assertion for close to 15 years — that the sexual practice of concurrency has accelerated the spread of HIV in Africa.

“People have just accepted at face value that this is the main thing that’s driving the epidemic,” said epidemiologist Mark Lurie, assistant professor community health and medicine. “But the evidence that concurrency is a major factor is very weak.”

more…

High levels of workplace exposure to Bisphenol-A may increase the risk of reduced sexual function in men, according to a Kaiser Permanente study appearing in the journal Human Reproduction, published by Oxford Journals. [1]

The five-year study examined 634 workers in factories in China, comparing workers in BPA manufacturing facilities with a control group of workers in factories where no BPA was present. The study found that the workers in the BPA facilities had quadruple the risk of erectile dysfunction, and seven times more risk of ejaculation difficulty.
more…

Two questionnaires, the Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7, were administered to 121 women referred to a specialized urology clinic for evaluation of lower urinary tract symptoms. These data were then analyzed according to psychiatric comorbidities, history of sexual trauma, age, race and obstetric history. Baseline incidence of psychiatric comorbidity and sexual trauma was also compared to a control population of 1,298 women from the Veterans Affairs primary care clinic.

more…

The study, conducted by Aletha Akers, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and colleagues, further links girls at weight extremes with an increased risk for engaging in sexual risk-taking behaviors.

“This study will contribute to sexual health education prevention efforts, which can be tailored to address how cultural norms regarding body size may influence adolescent sexual decision making. Knowing how a girl perceives her weight may be just as important as knowing her actual weight,” noted Dr. Akers.

more…

“These are important findings about body image,” said Debby Herbenick, associate director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. “Our culture often portrays women’s genitals as dirty and in need of cleaning and grooming. Some women may have had greater exposure to such negative messages or may be more susceptible to their impact.”

Herbenick’s study created a scale for measuring men’s and women’s attitudes toward women’s genitals. Such a scale, she wrote in the study, could be useful in sex therapy, in medical settings to help better understand decision-making that goes into gynecological care and treatment, and in health education settings involving women and their sexual health. The study also found that men had more positive attitudes about women’s genitals than women.

more…

“Sexual dysfunction is an important quality-of-life issue that many cancer survivors struggle with,” says Elyse Park, PhD, MPH, of the MGH Institute for Health Policy, who led the study. “If these conversations are not happening in the primary care physician’s office, they’re not likely to be happening anywhere.”

As more cancer patients live longer after treatment, quality-of-life concerns become more important. Sexual dysfunction is common not only among prostate and breast cancer survivors but also in significant percentages of survivors of other types of tumors. Problems may result from the cancer itself or its treatment, and patients can also experience depression, anxiety and concerns about body image that can interfere with desire, intimacy and sexual functioning. While many effective treatments are available for sexual dysfunction, the authors note, treatment can only begin if affected patients are identified. And for more and more cancer survivors, the primary care physician is their most significant health care provider.

more…

“So if 12 years was the average age here, that meant that some kids were starting at 10 or younger,” said Lohman, an Iowa State University associate professor of human development and family studies (HDFS). “A handful of kids reported having sex as early as 8 or 9. We know from our follow-up interviews that one boy who reported having sexual intercourse for the first time at age nine had fathered four children by the time he was 18.”

“Those people who say that kids don’t have sex at that young of age should think again,” she said. “Definitely the age is the most shocking thing about this study.”

more…