Media Preferences That Facilitate Interpersonal Communication Regarding Sexual Health: Racial Differences Among College-Aged Females

Young women are increasingly diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. The aim of this study was to test various types of mass media and their associations with interpersonal communication about sex and HIV or AIDS among female college students, stratified by race. The study used a nonexperimental cross-sectional design and an electronic survey. The sample consisted of female college students (N = 776) at a 4-year public university in the southeast. We found that the race of college women influenced their preferred media source for reception of information about sex and HIV/AIDS, which subsequently either motivated or was insignificant to communication with parents and/or partners.