17 September 2009

Alcohol is commonly seen as a factor in not using a condom with a new partner, regretting sexual activity and having sex with someone who would not normally be found attractive.

These are the results from new research published today by sexual health charity fpa. The charity wants to encourage greater public recognition that alcohol can and does influence sexual decision making. As part of this campaign, sets of bold and original posters and leaflets to get people to Enjoy sex responsibly are being distributed across the UK*.

Of the 1,002 people aged 18–30 who had past experience of both alcohol and sex, surveyed online by Ipsos MORI on behalf of fpa, 37% said they had ‘had sex with a new partner without using a condom’. Of this group, 40% said that alcohol was a factor (either a great deal or a fair amount) in what happened [1]. 

Regretted sex and alcohol, it appears, also often go hand in hand as of the 38% of all respondents who said ‘I have taken part in sexual activity with someone and then regretted it later’, a staggering 70% of these said alcohol was a factor (either a great deal or a fair amount) in what happened.  And over a quarter of all respondents (28%) had sex with someone they normally wouldn’t find attractive (fancy), with 73% of them giving alcohol as a factor.

Reacting to these figures, Julie Bentley Chief Executive of fpa said, “People don’t go out to take risks, they go out to have a good time. People may start with the best intentions, but drinking alcohol reduces the chances of using a condom with someone new and impairs sexual decision making. fpa isn't here to tell people how much they should or shouldn’t drink. Our point is, that you’re more likely to take chances with your sexual health if you’ve drunk alcohol.”

Among the group who had not used a condom with a new partner and said they thought alcohol was a factor in the decision (15% of all respondents in total), one in eight (13%) reported that on at least one occasion they or the person they had sex with became pregnant (unplanned). Another 7% of them said that they had contracted a sexually transmitted infection (STI) [2].

Julie continues, “The fact that some people in our research experienced an unplanned pregnancy or an STI as a result of sex under the influence of alcohol is extremely worrying. However, it’s likely there are more people who simply won’t ever know if the sex resulted in a pregnancy, STI or not as they never see that person again.”

The difference between an individual’s perceptions of their own behaviour when drinking compared to that of others is another interesting theme to emerge from the research. The vast majority (83%) agreed with the statement ‘In general people are less likely to use a condom or other contraception when they have sex if they have been drinking alcohol'. However, only 40% agreed that ‘I am less likely to use a condom or other contraception when I have sex if I have been drinking alcohol’.

Commenting on this Julie said, “Although everyone understands alcohol reduces our capacity to make decisions, leaving us all vulnerable to sexual risk taking, too many think that it won’t happen to them. But it can and it does. People frequently ring our helpline for advice and support the morning after drunken sex, bitterly regretting what’s happened and extremely worried about the consequences.”

It is also concerning that almost one in ten (9%) respondents said that they have been unable to remember whether or not they had sex or exactly what type of sexual activity took place. Ninety per cent of these said that alcohol was a factor a great/deal fair amount in what happened. (However, as the actual number saying they have been unable to remember whether or not they had sex or exactly what type of sexual activity took place was only 91, the findings from questions asked of this group specifically should be interpreted as indicative only).

“Drunken sex is often risky sex. Don't let one night of fun end in regret," concluded
Julie Bentley.

     -ENDS-

High resolution jpgs of all campaign materials are available from fpa’s press office.

For further information please contact fpa’s press office on 020 7608 5265/5264. Mobile 07958 921060.

fpa (Family Planning Association) is a registered charity working to improve the sexual health and reproductive rights of all people throughout the UK.

Notes to editors:
*The research was carried out for fpa’s One too Many campaign for Sexual Health Week 14–20 September 2009. Posters and campaign materials have been sent to universities, further education colleges, contraception and sexual health clinics and all General Practices in the UK. 

Campaign materials include:
Enjoy sex responsibly posters
Enjoy sex responsibly strategies leaflet on protecting sexual health when drinking
Enjoy sex responsibly hand stamps
Guidance sheet for professionals.

fpa gratefully acknowledges funding towards the campaign materials from the Department of Health.

Ipsos MORI conducted the survey on Alcohol and Sexual Health on behalf of fpa. The survey was conducted among 1,002 members of Ipsos MORI’s GB online panel. All participants were aged 18–30 and had had sex/taken part in sexual activity and drink/had drunk alcohol. The fieldwork was conducted between 11–18 August 2009.

Only online panel members aged18–30 were invited to take part in the survey. Two screener questions were then used to establish eligibility for the survey (ie having had sex/taken part in sexual activity and having drunk alcohol). Seventeen per cent of those originally asked were screened out because of ineligibility or because they refused to answer the screener questions. Quotas were set to ensure that those completing the screener questions were representative of the offline GB 18–30 population in terms of age, gender, region and social grade. It was not possible to set quotas on the survey itself as the profile of those fitting the survey criteria is not known.

Not all of the survey results are being released today – further findings may be published in the coming months.

About the press office

1 Participants were given the following instruction; ‘If a situation has happened on more than one occasion please indicate whether or not you had been drinking alcohol on any of those occasions’. They were then asked the extent to which they thought having drunk alcohol was a factor.
2 Participants were given the following instruction; ‘If the situation happened on more than one occasion please indicate whether any of the following happened on any one of those occasions’.