Relaciones con múltiples parejas en mujeres universitarias: estudio comparativo en dos instituciones del noroeste de México

objective: to identify what variables influence having multiple sexual partners. methods: a cross-sectional study was carried out with 542 women of two higher education institutions from the northwest of mexico, who answered a questionnaire measuring psychological variables underlying high-risk sexual behaviors. the data were analyzed with t-tests, mann-whitney u tests, and with a multiple linear regression. results: a multiple linear regression analysis showed the following results: for women from hermosillo, sonora, the predictors of high-risk sexual behaviors were biological age, age of sexual debut, and one biological state ？i was physically excited？, with those variables explaining 53.4% of the total variance; for women from ciudad juarez, chihuahua, the predictors were biological age, and two types of biological states ？i was physically excited？ and ？i was under the influence of alcohol？, explaining 20.8% of the total variance. conclusions: the results underscore the need to design prevention programs directed to avoid hiv infection based on behavioral competencies training.