Partner Type, Sexual Double Standard Endorsement, and Ambivalence Predict Abdication and Unprotected Sex Intentions in a Community Sample of Young Women

In-the-moment ambivalence about having sex may influence sexual decisions but has rarely been examined. We investigated how ambivalence about sex might be related to intentions to abdicate sexual decisions to a male partner and to engage in unprotected sex in a community sample of young women. Predictors of abdication and unprotected sex intentions included partner type (new casual versus previous relationship), sexual double standard (SDS) endorsement, and two types of ambivalence. After completing a SDS endorsement measure, women (N = 360) projected themselves into a hypothetical sexual situation and completed dependent measures. In the new casual partner condition, SDS endorsement indirectly negatively predicted unprotected sex intentions through its associations with ambivalence and abdication. In both partner conditions SDS endorsement positively predicted abdication, which then positively predicted unprotected sex intentions. Ambivalence indirectly predicted unprotected sex intentions through its negative association with abdication intentions. Results suggest the importance of ambivalence for sexual decisions and the complexity of understanding the sexual decision making processes for women who endorse the SDS.

Longitudinal Change in Women's Sexual Victimization Experiences as a Function of Alcohol Consumption and Sexual Victimization History: A Latent Transition Analysis

OBJECTIVE

Women's alcohol consumption and vulnerability to sexual victimization (SV) are linked, but findings regarding the nature and direction of the association are mixed. Some studies have found support for the self-medication hypothesis (i.e., victimized women drink more to alleviate SV-related distress); others have supported routine activity theory (i.e., drinking increases SV vulnerability). In this study, we aimed to clarify the interplay between women's prior SV, typical drinking, and SV experiences prospectively over one year.

METHOD

Participants (N = 530) completed a baseline survey and weekly follow-up surveys across Months 3, 6, 9, and 12.

RESULTS

Latent class analysis (LCA) suggested that women could be classified as victimized or non-victimized at each assessment month; 28% of participants were classified as victimized at one or more assessment months. Latent transition analysis (LTA) revealed that childhood sexual abuse and adult SV history each predicted greater likelihood of being victimized during the year. Typical drinking during a given assessment month was associated with (1) greater likelihood of victimized status at that assessment month and (2) greater likelihood of having transitioned into (or remained in) the victimized status since the previous assessment month. Furthermore, victimized status at a given assessment month predicted a higher quantity of subsequent drinking.

CONCLUSION

These findings indicate a reciprocal relationship between typical drinking and SV, supporting both the self-medication hypothesis and routine activity theory, and suggesting that hazardous drinking levels may be one important target for both SV vulnerability reduction and interventions for women who have been sexually victimized.

Men's condom use resistance: Alcohol effects on theory of planned behavior constructs

OBJECTIVE

This study is a novel investigation of (a) the utility of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to predict men's condom use resistance (CUR; i.e., attempts to avoid condom use with a partner who wants to use one and (b) the effects of alcohol on endorsement of TPB-CUR constructs.

METHOD

Using an alcohol administration protocol, a between- and within-subjects experiment was conducted with a community sample of 312 young male nonproblem drinkers who have sex with women. After assessing endorsement of TPB-CUR constructs (e.g., attitudes, norms, self-efficacy, control, and intentions) in a sober state, beverage condition was experimentally manipulated between subjects and endorsement of TPB-CUR constructs was reassessed.

RESULTS

Analyses included repeated measures multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) with beverage condition (no alcohol vs. alcohol) as the between-subjects factor and time (prebeverage vs. postbeverage) as the within-subjects factor. Between-subjects, intoxicated participants reported significantly stronger CUR intentions, more favorable CUR attitudes and normative perceptions, and greater CUR self-efficacy than sober participants. There were significant within-subject changes for CUR intentions, attitudes, normative perceptions, and self-efficacy. Neither between- nor within-subjects effects were found for CUR control. An exploratory multigroup path analysis indicated that the relationships among the TPB-CUR constructs were similar for alcohol and no alcohol groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicated that alcohol intoxication increased men's CUR intentions and self-efficacy and led to more positive CUR attitudes and norms, yet had no effect on CUR control. Future research should examine whether there are similar effects of intoxication on TPB constructs related to other sexual risk behaviors.

The Use of Drinking and Sexual Assault Protective Behavioral Strategies: Associations With Sexual Victimization and Revictimization Among College Women

Despite consistent high rates of campus sexual assault, little research has examined effective strategies to decrease sexual assault victimization. Sexual assault and drinking protective behavioral strategies (PBS) may be important means of reducing sexual assault victimization risk on college campuses but need further examination. The current study examined the relationship among sexual assault in childhood, before college, and since college to evaluate the mitigating roles of both sexual assault PBS and drinking PBS on sexual assault victimization. Participants (n = 620) were undergraduate women, 18 to 20 years old. The current study was a cross-sectional online survey assessing participants' sexual assault PBS and sexual assault history. Sexual assault history was positively associated with future sexual assault experiences. Pre-college sexual assault was associated with increased since-college sexual assault and increased drinks per week. Since-college adolescent/adult sexual assault was associated with less use of sexual assault PBS. These findings suggest that PBS may have an important role in sexual assault victimization and future research should examine their usefulness in risk reduction programs for college women.

A randomized controlled trial targeting alcohol use and sexual assault risk among college women at high risk for victimization

Sexual assault risk reduction programs do not target alcohol use despite the widespread knowledge that alcohol use is a risk factor for being victimized. The current study assessed the effectiveness of a web-based combined sexual assault risk and alcohol use reduction program using a randomized control trial. A total of 207 college women between the ages of 18 and 20 who engaged in heavy episodic drinking were randomized to one of five conditions: full assessment only control condition, sexual assault risk reduction condition, alcohol use reduction condition, combined sexual assault risk and alcohol use reduction condition, and a minimal assessment only condition. Participants completed a 3-month follow-up survey on alcohol-related sexual assault outcomes, sexual assault outcomes, and alcohol use outcomes. Significant interactions revealed that women with higher severity of sexual assault at baseline experienced less incapacitated attempted or completed rapes, less severity of sexual assaults, and engaged in less heavy episodic drinking compared to the control condition at the 3-month follow-up. Web-based risk reduction programs targeting both sexual assault and alcohol use may be the most effective way to target the highest risk sample of college students for sexual assault: those with a sexual assault history and those who engage in heavy episodic drinking.

Background Predictors and Event-Specific Characteristics of Sexual Aggression Incidents: The Roles of Alcohol and Other Factors

Sexual assault in the United States is an important public health concern. Using prospective longitudinal methods and responses from 217 community men, we examined whether background characteristics predicted subsequent sexual aggression (SA) perpetration during a 3-month follow-up period. We also examined event-specific characteristics of reported SA occurrences. Consistent with predictions, SA perpetration history, aggressive and impulsive personality traits, rape myth attitudes, and alcohol expectancies predicted SA (both non- and alcohol-involved) at follow-up. In addition, alcohol-involved assaults occurred more often with casual (vs. steady) partners but were more likely to involve condom use with casual (vs. steady) partners. Results suggest important avenues for future research and SA prevention efforts.

Influences of acute alcohol consumption, sexual precedence, and relationship motivation on women's relationship and sex appraisals and unprotected sex intentions

Guided by the cognitive mediation model of sexual decision making (Norris, Masters, & Zawacki, 2004. Cognitive mediation of women's sexual decision making: The influence of alcohol, contextual factors, and background variables. Annual Review of Sex Research, 15, 258-296), we examined female social drinkers' (N = 162) in-the-moment risky sexual decision making by testing how individual differences (relationship motivation) and situational factors (alcohol consumption and sexual precedence conditions) influenced cognitive appraisals and sexual outcomes in a hypothetical sexual scenario. In a path model, acute intoxication, sexual precedence, and relationship motivation interactively predicted primary relationship appraisals and independently predicted primary sex appraisals. Primary appraisals predicted secondary appraisals related to relationship and unprotected sex, which predicted unprotected sex intentions. Sexual precedence directly increased unprotected sex intentions. Findings support the cognitive mediation model and suggest that sexual risk reduction interventions should address alcohol, relationship, sexual, and cognitive factors.

Alcohol myopia and sexual abdication among women: examining the moderating effect of child sexual abuse

INTRODUCTION

HIV and other STIs are major public health concerns for women, and risky sexual behaviors increase the risk of transmission. Risky sexual behaviors include sexual abdication, that is, willingness to let a partner decide how far to go sexually. Alcohol intoxication is a risk factor for risky sexual behavior, and the Inhibition Conflict Model of Alcohol Myopia may help explain this relationship. This model suggests that in order for intoxication to influence behavior there must be high conflict, meaning the strength of the instigatory cues and inhibitory cues are both high. Recent research indicates that the degree to which cues are experienced as high in instigation or inhibition is subject to individual difference factors. One individual difference factor associated with alcohol-related sexual risk taking is child sexual abuse (CSA) history.

METHODS

The current study examined the influence of acute alcohol intoxication, CSA, and inhibition conflict on sexual abdication with 131 women (mean age 25) randomized into a 2 (alcohol, control)×2 (high conflict, low conflict) experimental design.

RESULTS

Regression analyses yielded a significant 3-way interaction, F (1,122)=8.15, R(2)=.14, p<.01. When there was high conflict, intoxicated CSA women were more likely to abdicate than sober CSA women, however, sober CSA women were less likely to abdicate than sober NSA women, when there was low conflict, CSA history and alcohol intoxication had no influence on abdication.

CONCLUSION

These results may help explain the association between alcohol and risky sexual decision making among women with CSA.

Men's Intentions to Have Sex With a New Partner: Sexual and Emotional Responding, Alcohol, and Condoms

Findings regarding the relation between alcohol and intentions to have sex have been mixed, and little research has examined the role of condom availability on intentions to have sex. Sexual and emotional responding may influence subsequent sexual decisions. Thus, a better understanding of sexual and emotional responding combined with situational factors such as condom presence could help explain the discrepancies in findings regarding alcohol's effect on intentions to have sex. The effects of alcohol and condom presence on men's intentions to have sex were examined using an experimental paradigm involving an alcohol administration study and a second-person eroticized scenario. The effects of sexual and emotional responding were also examined in relation to intentions to have sex. It was found that alcohol increased positive mood, which was associated with higher intentions to have sex. In addition, condom presence was directly associated with higher intentions to have sex. More sexual desire was related to increased likelihood of sexual intentions. These findings increase understanding of mechanisms underlying the relation between alcohol and intentions to have sex.

How to Score the Sexual Experiences Survey? A Comparison of Nine Methods

OBJECTIVE

Although assessments of sexual assault victimization and perpetration have greatly improved, current scoring methods do not fully utilize the wealth of information they provide. The present studies assessed new methods for scoring sexual assault severity using the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES; Koss et al., 2007).

METHOD

In two studies of female (n = 436) and male (n = 313) non-problem drinkers who had engaged in unprotected sex within the past year, we compared three severity ranking schemes as well as three scoring methods per severity scheme for a total of nine scoring methods. New severity ranking schemes considered tactic types separately, varied combinations of assault outcomes, and accounted for multiple types and frequencies of assaults. Measures assessing convergent validity were also administered.

RESULTS

Seventy-eight percent (n = 340) of the women reported victimization, and 58% (n = 180) of the men reported perpetration. All severity scoring methods were strongly associated with convergent measures.

CONCLUSIONS

Each scoring method is viable; however especially among samples with greater victimization/perpetration rates, there can be advantages to incorporating multiple types and frequencies of assault experiences into SES scores. Recent refinements of the SES necessitate commensurate improvements in its scoring methods in order to significantly advance the field of sexual assault assessment.

Sexually explicit online media and sexual risk among men who have sex with men in the United States

This study aimed to describe sexually explicit online media (SEOM) consumption among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States and examine associations between exposure to unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) in SEOM and engagement in both UAI and serodiscordant UAI. MSM in the U.S. who accessed a men-seeking-men website in the past year (N = 1,170) were recruited online for a cross-sectional, Internet-based survey of sexual risk and SEOM consumption. In the 3 months prior to interview, more than half (57 %) of the men reported viewing SEOM one or more times per day and almost half (45 %) reported that at least half of the SEOM they viewed portrayed UAI. Compared to participants who reported that 0-24 % of the SEOM they viewed showed UAI, participants who reported that 25-49, 50-74, or 75-100 % of the SEOM they viewed portrayed UAI had progressively increasing odds of engaging in UAI and serodiscordant UAI in the past 3 months. As SEOM has become more ubiquitous and accessible, research should examine causal relations between SEOM consumption and sexual risk-taking among MSM as well as ways to use SEOM for HIV prevention.

Sexual victimization, alcohol intoxication, sexual-emotional responding, and sexual risk in heavy episodic drinking women

This study used an experimental paradigm to investigate the roles of sexual victimization history and alcohol intoxication in young women's sexual-emotional responding and sexual risk taking. A nonclinical community sample of 436 young women, with both an instance of heavy episodic drinking and some HIV/STI risk exposure in the past year, completed childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and adolescent/adult sexual assault (ASA) measures. A majority of them reported CSA and/or ASA, including rape and attempted rape. After random assignment to a high alcohol dose (.10 %) or control condition, participants read and projected themselves into an eroticized scenario of a sexual encounter involving a new partner. As the story protagonist, each participant rated her positive mood and her sexual arousal, sensation, and desire, and then indicated her likelihood of engaging in unprotected sex. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that ASA and alcohol were directly associated with heightened risk taking, and alcohol's effects were partially mediated by positive mood and sexual desire. ASA was associated with attenuated sexual-emotional responding and resulted in diminished risk taking via this suppression. These are the first findings indicating that, compared to non-victimized counterparts, sexually victimized women respond differently in alcohol-involved sexual encounters in terms of sexual-emotional responding and risk-taking intentions. Implications include assessing victimization history and drinking among women seeking treatment for either concern, particularly women at risk for HIV, and alerting them to ways their histories and behavior may combine to exacerbate their sexual risks.

A qualitative examination of men's condom use attitudes and resistance: "it's just part of the game"

The purpose of this study was to investigate the variability in young heterosexual men's perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of condom use in their casual sexual relationships. Because men who perceive greater disadvantages of condom use may be more likely to resist using them, we also explored the tactics that men employ to avoid using condoms. Semi-structured focus groups were conducted with single men who have sex with women (n = 60), aged 21-35 years, all of whom reported using condoms inconsistently. Transcripts were analyzed using a framework analysis approach. As expected, participants reported advantages and disadvantages to condom use that pertained to the likelihood and quality of sex, physical sensations during intercourse, and the risk of sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies. Within each of these topics, however, participants' appraisals of the relative pros and cons of condom use varied considerably. Additionally, participants reported that men use a wide range of condom use resistance tactics, including seduction, deception, and condom sabotage, and that the use of these tactics was viewed as normative behavior for men their age. These findings suggest that the effectiveness of sexual health prevention efforts could be enhanced by increasing young men's motivations to use condoms and by targeting social norms regarding condom use resistance. Additionally, the issue of men's condom use resistance clearly merits increased empirical investigation and intervention attention.

Randomized controlled trial of a web-delivered personalized normative feedback intervention to reduce alcohol-related risky sexual behavior among college students

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of personalized normative feedback (PNF) on college student alcohol-related risky sexual behavior (RSB).

METHOD

In a randomized controlled trial, 480 (57.6% female) sexually active college students were stratified by gender and level of drinking and randomly assigned to an alcohol-only intervention, an alcohol-related RSB-only intervention, a combined alcohol and alcohol-related RSB intervention, or control. All assessment and intervention procedures were Web-based.

RESULTS

Results indicated a significant reduction in drinking outcomes for the alcohol only and the combined alcohol and alcohol-related RSB interventions relative to control. Findings further demonstrated a significant reduction in alcohol-related RSB outcomes for the alcohol-related RSB only and the combined alcohol and alcohol-related RSB interventions relative to control. There were no significant intervention effects on alcohol-related negative consequences. These findings demonstrate that the combined alcohol and alcohol-related RSB intervention was the only intervention successful at reducing both drinking and alcohol-related RSB outcomes relative to control. There were no significant differences when comparing the combined alcohol and alcohol-related RSB intervention to the alcohol-only intervention or the alcohol-related RSB-only intervention. Finally, results suggested that the intervention effects on high-risk behaviors were mediated by reductions in descriptive normative perceptions.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings demonstrate that PNF specific to drinking in sexual situations was needed to reduce alcohol-related RSB. Furthermore, this study highlights the potential utility of a brief intervention that can be delivered via the Internet to reduce high-risk drinking and alcohol-related RSB among college students.

Young men's condom use resistance tactics: a latent profile analysis

Research suggests that many men have used a variety of tactics to avoid using condoms when having sex with women. Guided by previous work demonstrating that men's use of coercive condom resistance tactics was predicted by negative attitudes toward women, inconsistent condom use, multiple partners, and sexual sensation seeking, the current study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to determine whether similar constructs were associated with a variety of resistance tactics. A community sample of 313 moderate-drinking men participated, of whom 80% reported employing at least one condom use resistance tactic since adolescence. The LPA revealed three classes of men. In general, men with the least negative beliefs about women, low levels of sexual sensation seeking and impulsivity, and positive beliefs about condoms (Condom Positive/Low Hostility) reported less use of resistance tactics than men with moderate sexual sensation seeking and impulsivity, negative beliefs about condoms, and moderate (Condom Negative/Moderate Hostility) or high (Condom Negative/High Hostility) negative attitudes about women. The classes also differed in terms of their sexual behaviors. This study demonstrated that sexual risk behavior interventions should not only address the tactics through which men resist using condoms but also tailor these efforts to men's individual characteristics.

Studying Sexual Aggression: A Review of the Evolution and Validity of Laboratory Paradigms

OBJECTIVE

Researchers have endeavored for decades to develop and implement experimental assessments of sexual aggression and its precursors to capitalize on the many scientific advantages offered by laboratory experiments, such as rigorous control of key variables and identification of causal relationships. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of and commentary on the evolution of these laboratory-based methods.

CONCLUSIONS

To date, two primary types of sexual aggression laboratory studies have been developed: those that involve behavioral analogues of sexual aggression and those that assess postulated precursors to sexually aggressive behavior. Although the study of sexual aggression in the laboratory is fraught with methodological challenges, validity concerns, and ethical considerations, advances in the field have resulted in greater methodological rigor, more precise dependent measures, and improved experimental validity, reliability, and realism. Because highly effective sexual aggression prevention strategies remain elusive, continued laboratory-based investigation of sexual aggression coupled with translation of critical findings to the development and modification of sexual aggression prevention programs remains an important task for the field.

Sexual Decision Making in the Absence of Choice: The African American Female Dating Experience

Although links between low mate availability and increased HIV and STI risk for African American women have been documented in the literature, we know little about the impact of limited mate choices on the quality of relationships between Black men and women and how these relationship dynamics impact risk for young Black women. We conducted a qualitative study with African American female young adults (N=12) to explore the perceived impact of structural forces on African American female young adults' dating and sexual behavior. Participants reported (1) perceptions of Black men as untrustworthy and manipulative, (2) the limited and often negative roles for Black men in the larger Black community, and (3) heterosexual relationships in the Black community as increasingly influenced by economics and commerce. Recommendations for HIV prevention interventions that include micro and macro level approaches are discussed.

Alcohol intoxication and condom use self-efficacy effects on women's condom use intentions

Although research has consistently demonstrated that condom use self-efficacy significantly predicts condom use, there has been little investigation of whether acute alcohol intoxication moderates this relationship. Because alcohol intoxication is often associated with increased sexual risk taking, further examination of such moderating effects is warranted. Using a community sample of young heterosexual women (n=436) with a history of heavy episodic drinking, this alcohol administration experiment examined the effects of intoxication and condom use self-efficacy on women's condom negotiation and future condom use intentions. After a questionnaire session, alcohol condition (control, .10% target peak BAL) was experimentally manipulated between subjects. Participants then read and responded to a hypothetical risky sexual decision-making scenario. SEM analyses revealed that alcohol intoxication directly decreased women's intentions to use condoms in the future. Women with greater condom use self-efficacy had stronger intentions to engage in condom negotiation; however, this effect was moderated by intoxication. Specifically, the association between condom use self-efficacy and condom negotiation intentions was stronger for intoxicated women than for sober women. These novel findings regarding the synergistic effects of alcohol intoxication and condom use self-efficacy support continued prevention efforts aimed at strengthening women's condom use self-efficacy, which may reduce even those sexual risk decisions made during states of intoxication.

Women's unprotected sex intentions: roles of sexual victimization, intoxication, and partner perception

Sexually victimized women may make sexual decisions differently than nonvictimized women. This study used an eroticized scenario and laboratory alcohol administration to investigate the roles of victimization history, intoxication, and relationship context in women's perceptions of a male partner and their subsequent intentions for unprotected sex. A community sample of 436 women completed childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and adolescent/adult sexual assault (ASA) measures. After random assignment to an alcohol or control condition, participants read and projected themselves into a sexual scenario that depicted the male partner as having high or low potential for a lasting relationship. Participants rated their perceptions of his intoxication, sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk level, and anticipated reactions to insistence on condom use. They then indicated their likelihood of allowing the partner to decide how far to go sexually (abdication) and of engaging in unprotected sex. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses revealed that intoxication predicted greater unprotected sex likelihood indirectly via abdication. CSA and ASA predicted partner perceptions, which in turn predicted unprotected sex likelihood. These findings indicate that, compared to their nonvictimized counterparts, sexually victimized women may respond differently in sexual encounters partly as a function of their perceptions of partners' STI risk and anticipated reactions to condom insistence.

Verbal Sexual Coercion Experiences, Sexual Risk, and Substance Use in Women

Research has linked sexual assault, substance use, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk in women. Sexual assault by means of verbal sexual coercion (VSC) is more common than sexual assault by means of physical tactics, but VSC is rarely assessed independently. In addition, past work has established global connections among substance use, sexual assault history, and STI risk; however, assessing substance use during sexual behavior is less common. This study examined the relations among VSC, STI risk behavior, and substance use and attitudes. We hypothesized that women with larger numbers of VSC experiences would report more frequent sexual risk behaviors and substance use and attitudes. Participants with larger numbers of VSC experiences reported larger numbers of anal sex partners, more frequent penile-vaginal sex and sexual activity after substance use, and stronger sex-related alcohol expectancies. These findings suggest that VSC is associated with higher levels of STI risk in women.

The cultural context of nondisclosure of alcohol-involved acquaintance rape among Asian American college women: a qualitative study

With high college enrollment and increasing alcohol use, Asian American (AA) college women may be at particular risk for experiencing alcohol-involved acquaintance rape. Although AA women have expressed the weakest intentions to report rape when compared to other ethnic groups, cultural factors influencing these intentions remain unexamined. Guided by grounded theory, 17 self-identified AA college women were interviewed about how the average AA college woman would respond to an alcohol-involved acquaintance rape. Despite awareness of benefits of disclosing rape, participants emphasized that nondisclosure would be the normative response. Three themes emerged from participants: institutional, sociocultural, and psychological contexts of nondisclosure. At an institutional level, nondisclosure referenced mental health and police services, which included Asian stereotypes and mistrust of police. Within a sociocultural context, rape nondisclosure focused on negative consequences on relationships with parents and, to a lesser extent, on friendships. Emotional avoidance and not labeling an acquaintance rape as rape were psychological strategies for rape nondisclosure. Participant's conceptualizations of mental and physical health concerns, specifically post-rape concerns, were framed within sociocultural/macrostructural contexts and may not match that of the more individualistic U.S. mainstream conceptualizations of health. Culturally sensitive rape education may be more effective in increasing rape prevention and support.

The potential of alcohol "heat-of-the-moment" scenarios in HIV prevention: A qualitative study exploring intervention implications

Scenarios simulating real-world risk situations have proven effective for substance use intervention methods and could potentially prove useful as an HIV-prevention method. This study explored qualitatively the development and use of such "in-the-moment" methods. We interviewed 97 moderate-drinking women (50 % Caucasian) after participation in an experiment requiring that they project themselves into a risky-sex scenario. Most participants (58 %) reported experiencing the scenario as a reflective tool characterized by two primary themes: (1) increased awareness of risk and (2) contemplation of behavior change. Findings suggest that "in-the-moment" methods depicting real-world risk situations and providing opportunities to reflect about behavioral choices and subsequent outcomes could prove a useful adjunct to HIV/AIDS-prevention interventions. Such methods could potentially augment existing prevention protocols.

Influences of situational factors and alcohol expectancies on sexual desire and arousal among heavy-episodic drinking women: acute alcohol intoxication and condom availability

Although studies suggest that alcohol increases women's sexual desire, no studies to our knowledge have examined the effects of acute alcohol intoxication on women's sexual desire. The majority of research examining alcohol's effects on sexual arousal in women suggests that alcohol increases self-reported arousal. In an alcohol administration study in which women projected themselves into an eroticized scenario depicting a consensual sexual encounter with a new male partner, we examined the effects of alcohol and condom condition on women's sexual desire and arousal. The moderating effects of sex-related alcohol expectancies were also examined. Results revealed that alcohol intoxication was related to less desire to engage in sex with a new partner and condom presence was related to more desire. Alcohol interacted with sexual disinhibition alcohol expectancies, indicating that more expectancy endorsement was associated with greater sexual desire and self-reported arousal in the alcohol condition, but not the control condition. Condom condition had no effect on self-reported sexual arousal. The present research suggests that sexual desire merits research attention in non-clinical samples, and experimental methodology can provide valuable information about alcohol's influence on women's sexual desire, thus advancing our understanding of this relationship beyond cross-sectional correlations. The current findings also provide evidence that sex-related alcohol expectancies may play an important role in alcohol-involved sexual experiences including desire and arousal.

Patterns of alcohol use and expectancies predict sexual risk taking among non-problem drinking women

OBJECTIVE

Although alcohol consumption and sexual risk taking are associated, not everyone who drinks alcohol engages in risky sexual behavior. The purposes of the present study were to identify patterns of alcohol use behaviors and alcohol expectancies among women who are non-problem drinkers and to examine how these patterns are associated with indices of sexual risk.

METHOD

Data from 758 non-problem drinking women who have sex with men and were not in committed relationships were analyzed using latent profile analysis to determine patterns of alcohol use and alcohol-related expectancies.

RESULTS

Of the four patterns observed, three classes had similar alcohol-related expectancies but differed with respect to drinking behavior (moderate drinking, regular heavy episodes, and frequent heavy episodes), and the fourth class consisted of moderate drinkers with low expectancies (low expectancies). Results revealed that those in the frequent heavy episodes class had the greatest number of sexual partners in the past year and drank the most alcohol before having sex compared with the other women. Both the regular and frequent heavy episodes classes reported greater likelihood of having unprotected sex in the future, more positive beliefs about casual sex, and greater subjective intoxication before having sex than women in the moderate drinking or low expectancies classes. Women in the low expectancies class reported less positive beliefs about condoms than those in the moderate drinking and regular heavy episodes classes.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that different patterns of expectancies and drinking behaviors are associated with different indices of sexual risk taking and highlight the importance of individually tailored programs for prevention of sexually transmitted infections.

How Do Alcohol and Relationship Type Affect Women's Risk Judgment of Partners with Differing Risk Histories?

Understanding how women judge male partners' sexual risk is important to developing risk reduction programs. Applying a cognitive mediation model of sexual decision making, our study investigated effects of alcohol consumption (control, low dose, high dose) and relationship type (disrupted vs. new) on women's risk judgments of a male sexual partner in three sexual risk conditions (low, unknown, high). After random assignment to an experimental condition, 328 participants projected themselves into a story depicting a sexual interaction. The story was paused to assess primary appraisals of sexual and relationship potential and secondary appraisals of pleasure, health, and relationship concerns, followed by sexual risk judgments. In all risk conditions, alcohol and disrupted relationship increased sexual potential whereas disrupted relationship increased relationship potential in the low- and high-risk conditions. In the unknown-risk condition, women in the no-alcohol, new relationship condition had the lowest primary sexual appraisals. In all conditions, sexual appraisals predicted all secondary appraisals, but primary relationship appraisals predicted only secondary relationship appraisals. Secondary health appraisals led to increased risk judgments whereas relationship appraisals predicted lower risk judgments. Possible intervention points include helping women to re-evaluate their safety beliefs about past partners, as well as to develop behavioral strategies for decreasing hazardous drinking.