UA Professor Researches Women’s Health Risks When Dating

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Bronwen Lichtenstein, University of Alabama assistant professor of criminal justice, is researching the health risks that women over the age of 35 take when they start dating after the breakup of a long-term relationship.

Lichtenstein believes that after a woman leaves a long-term relationship she may make risky dating choices. “Being in a relationship for 20 years means you have no idea what the dating scene is like today,” Lichtenstein said.

According to Lichtenstein, these women who look like your mother or your grandmother do not have available information about dating and do not know where to safely go to meet possible partners.

Lichtenstein is currently conducting a research study on the issue and hopes that her research will provide some useful information about how to safely meet a partner and what health information and precautions women should take before becoming serious with a new partner.

The problems women face in re-entering the dating scene do not involve meeting the wrong kind of man, they involve meeting men and making choices that risk their health. “I was contacted recently by a physician-researcher who told me that he was seeing a lot of women, 35 years of age and older, for sexually transmitted infections. The women had recently broken up with long-term partners and spouses,” Lichtenstein said.

Women over the age of 35 who have recently come out of a divorce or separation are not equipped with the proper health information about the spread of sexually transmitted diseases when dating. “Women are biologically more at risk for STDs at 50 than at 20 and most women don’t realize it,” Lichtenstein said.

The issues these women face are biological, emotional and personal, although the real problem is that these issues are not being addressed, she noted.

Lichtenstein is conducting her research by interview and is currently looking for qualified participants. Contact her at 205/886-2115 to determine eligibility. Each qualified participant will receive $50 for their time and information.