Table 1.
Variables of interest for Phase 1 secondary analysis.
| Variable of interest | Survey item | Psychometric properties | Composite variable for analyses |
| Age | What is your age in years? | Pearson correlation =.98 [27] | Continuous variable (18-25) |
| Ethnic/Racial background | What ethnic/racial background do you consider yourself to be? | New question; no retest performed | 0=Caucasian descent (white) 1=non-Caucasian Descent (African Descent, Aboriginal, Asian, Middle Eastern, and other) |
| Residential status | What are your living arrangements? | New question; no retest performed | 0=On campus 1=Off campus, with self or peers 2=Off campus with romantic partner 3=Off campus, with parents |
| Sexual orientation | People have different feelings about themselves when it comes to questions of being attracted to other people. Which of the following best describes your feelings? | Kappa=.8 [28] | 0=Heterosexual 1=Non-heterosexual |
| Sexual health knowledge [28] | Please indicate whether you believe each of the following statements are true or false by checking the appropriate response. | Cronbach α=.71 [28] | Continuous (0-12) |
| Barriers to help seeking [29] | Please indicate how much you disagree or agree with the following statements by checking the appropriate number on the 5-point scale, where 1 = “Strongly disagree” and 5 = “Strongly agree” | Cronbach α=.93 [29] | Continuous (0-40) |
| Social support [30] | Please describe how true you believe each of the following statements about your social relationships and support networks, where 1 = “not true at all” and 5 = “completely true”. | Cronbach α=.86 [30]; .71 [31] Kappa=.91 |
Continuous variable (0-105) |
| Sexual health service use Males: STI & HIV testing Females: STI, HIV, Pap, & pregnancy testing |
Have you ever seen a health professional in order to obtain the following services? If you answer yes for a particular service, please indicate the location where you access that service: University health center or Other |
New question; no retest performed | Males: 0=No 1=Yes (STI or HIV testing) Females: 0=No 1=Yes (STI, HIV, Pap, or pregnancy testing) |