Sexual arousal: A review of its relationship with sexual risk behaviors

We conducted a systematic review of the literature about the association between sexual arousal and sexual risk behaviors. The literature search in Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed provided 50 studies. The results were organized considering: (a) use of alcohol-drugs in sexual encounters; (b) use of contraceptive methods/risk of sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy; (c) casual sex/number of sex partners/sex workers. We observed that the self-reported measure more frequently used to assess sexual arousal was the Sexual Inhibition/Sexual Excitation Scales. In addition, levels of sexual arousal has been positively associated with the use of alcohol and drugs in a sexual situation, casual sex, number of sexual partners and work or pay for sex, and negatively with using contraceptives methods. This review, highlights the need to include sexual arousal as a relevant variable in programmes for the prevention and intervention of sexual risk behaviors and sexual education.