Sex, Lies, and HIV

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
To the Editor: Reducing the risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission among sexually active teenagers and young adults is a major public health concern.1 Young people are advised to select potential sexual partners from groups at lower risk for HIV,2 in part by asking about partners' risk histories.3 Unfortunately, this advice overlooks the possibility that people may lie about their risk history.4 In a sample of 18-to-25-year-old students attending colleges in southern California (n = 665), we found strong evidence that undermines faith in questioning partners as an effective primary strategy of risk reduction. The young adults, of whom . . .