Study Examines If Sexual Hook-Up Behavior Among College Women Leads to Depression

A new study by researchers at Brown University and Syracuse University examines whether there is link between sexual hook-up behavior among college women and depression. Researchers surveyed nearly 500 college women for 13 consecutive months on their sexual behavior, rates of sexual victimization, contraction of sexually transmitted diseases, and depression symptoms. The study found that about half the women engaged in hook-up behavior during the period of the study and the women who did so were initially more likely to exhibit symptoms of depression than other women in the study. But sexual hook-up behavior was not shown to predict long-term depression.

The study, “Sexual Hookups and Adverse Health Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study of First-Year College Women,” was published in The Journal of Sex Research. It can be downloaded by clicking here.