OBJECTIVE: This study examined the relationship between the number of male sexual partners of sexually active males and the frequency they had been a victim of violence at school, missed school due to fear, used drugs at school, and had engaged in fighting and weapon carrying both in and out of school.

DESIGN: Sexually active males (N=3,886) in 8th - 12th grades in both public and private schools were administered an anonymous self-administered 91-item questionnaire. The sample represented 60.8% of all sexually active students enrolled in school in Vermont. Students were asked. During your life, with how many males have you had sexual intercourse? Responses ranged from never to 6 or more males on a 7-point scale. Data were analyzed with Spearman correlation coefficients (r) followed by multiple regression analysis.

RESULTS: 8.7% of males reported one or more male sexual partners. Number of male sexual partners was not correlated with age, or the percent of children living in poverty, mean income, or percent rural of the county. Alcohol, marijuana, and smokeless tobacco use at school, not attending school due to fear, having been threatened or injured with a weapon at school and weapon carrying at school accounted for 19.6% of the variation in number of male sexual partners (p≤0.0001). When non school behaviors were analyzed, suicide attempts, school absence due to fear, alcohol, smokeless tobacco and marijuana use at school, and frequency of fighting requiring medical treatment accounted for 20% of the variation in number of male sexual partners(p≤0.00001).

CONCLUSION: The number of male sexual partners reported by sexually active males was associated with a higher frequency of victimization, use of violence, and drug use at school. Frequency of suicide attempts and fighting outside of school were also associated with number of same gender sexual partners.