The relationship between attachment styles and high-risk sexual behavior: Investigating the moderating role of birth order and sexual abuse history in childhood

The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between attachment styles and risky sexual behavior with the moderating variable of birth order and the experience of sexual abuse in childhood. This research was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive in terms of the nature of implementation with correlational design. The statistical population in this research included all young men and women between 20 and 30 years of age with risky sexual behavior in Tehran, which was conducted between November 2017 and September 2018. Among them, 100 people who had experienced high-risk sexual behavior were selected through purposive sampling. The tools used in this research included a high-risk sexual behaviors questionnaire (RSBQ), Khakbaz et al. (2019), and an attachment style questionnaire (ASQ), Collins and Reed (1990). The collected data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation test and multiple regression. The final results showed that there is a significant relationship between attachment styles and risky sexual behavior (P<0.05), However, the variable of birth order and the experience of sexual abuse during childhood does not have a moderating role in the relationship between attachment styles and risky sexual behavior (P>0.05). Also, there is a significant relationship between secure, avoidant, and ambivalent attachment styles with risky sexual behavior.