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.

An integrated theoretical approach to substance use and risky sexual behavior among men who have sex with men

Research demonstrates a consistent association between substance use and sexual risk, particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM). The present study builds upon two existing theories (Cognitive Escape Theory and Expectancy Theory) to examine the synergistic role of sexual conflict (surrounding unsafe sex) and expectancies in sexual behavior among 135 MSM. Two conflicts were examined: (1) The conflict between motivation to practice safer sex and temptation for unprotected sex; and (2) The conflict between motivation to practice safer sex and perceived benefits of unprotected sex. Factorial ANOVAs (2 × 2; high versus low expectancies and conflict versus no conflict) revealed a significant interaction between conflict and expectancies-individuals who reported high levels of conflict were more sensitive to the effect of expectancies than were those experiencing low levels of sexual conflict. Results demonstrate the synergistic effects of conflict and expectancies and highlight the importance of integrating existing theories to more fully consider the intrapsychic operation and experience of sexual conflicts.

The effect of alcohol on sexual risk-taking among young men and women

The current study investigated the effects of alcohol and gender on the intentions of engaging in sexual risk-taking. Young adults (101 men, 99 women) were randomly assigned to the alcohol, placebo, or no-alcohol conditions. Participants listened to an audiotaped scenario that presented a romantic situation between a man and a woman who had just met. Participants were asked to imagine that they were one of the individuals in the scenario and then judged their intentions to engage in sexual risk-taking. Similar previous studies (e.g., Abbey, Saenz, & Buck, 2005) employing a vignette in which the couple had known each other prior to the romantic encounter found that intoxicated individuals reported a greater willingness to engage in sexual activity than those in the placebo and control groups. In contrast, the current study's results showed that intoxicated and placebo-treated women reported a greater intention of engaging in sex than sober women (b=4.92, t=2.42, p<05). Conversely, intoxicated and placebo-treated men reported less willingness to engage in sex than sober men (b=-4.66, t=-2.14, p<.05). Neither alcohol nor gender predicted participants' intention to use a condom if they chose to engage in sex. However, those who used condoms more frequently were more likely to report intending to use a condom in this scenario (b=-1.60, t=-2.17, p<.05). The results demonstrated the complex processes underlying the effects of alcohol on engaging in casual sex by revealing a gender-specific psychological effect of alcohol.

College women's sexual decision making: cognitive mediation of alcohol expectancy effects

OBJECTIVE

Alcohol has been linked to a variety of risky sexual practices, including inconsistent condom use. Due to the high rates of alcohol consumption among underage college women, greater understanding of the role of alcohol in young women's sexual decision making is warranted.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS

Female underage (18- to 20-year-old) social drinkers (N = 94) participated in an experiment in which they projected themselves into a written hypothetical sexual situation with a new partner. One half of the situations portrayed alcohol consumption; one half did not involve alcohol consumption. Their appraisals of the situation's sexual potential, impelling and inhibiting cognitions, and sexual behavior intentions were assessed.

RESULTS

Results revealed that alcohol's expectancy effects on young women's unprotected sexual intentions were mediated by their cognitive appraisals of the situation.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate that alcohol expectancies and their influence on women's sexual decisions should be incorporated into sexual risk reduction efforts.

Women's condom use assertiveness and sexual risk-taking: effects of alcohol intoxication and adult victimization

This experiment examined relationships among adulthood victimization, sexual assertiveness, alcohol intoxication, and sexual risk-taking in female social drinkers (N=161). Women completed measures of sexual assault and intimate partner violence history and sexual assertiveness before random assignment to 1 of 4 beverage conditions: control, placebo, low dose (.04%), or high dose (.08%). After drinking, women read a second-person story involving a sexual encounter with a new partner. As protagonist of the story, each woman rated her likelihood of condom insistence and unprotected sex. Victimization history and self-reported sexual assertiveness were negatively related. The less sexually assertive a woman was, the less she intended to insist on condom use, regardless of intoxication. By reducing the perceived health consequences of unprotected sex, intoxication indirectly decreased condom insistence and increased unprotected sex. Findings extend previous work by elucidating possible mechanisms of the relationship between alcohol and unprotected sex - perceived health consequences and situational condom insistence - and support the value of sexual assertiveness training to enhance condom insistence, especially since the latter relationship was robust to intoxication.

Liquid courage: alcohol fosters risky sexual decision-making in individuals with sexual fears

The interaction of sexual fear and acute alcohol intoxication on the likelihood of risky sexual behavior was explored. Participants (Ps; N = 115) completed a measure of sexual fears and were randomly assigned to no-, low-, or high-dose alcohol conditions. Ps then read an eroticized vignette, where they were the protagonist, and rated their likelihood of sex with a new partner when no condom was available. Controlling for gender and social desirability, compared to sober Ps, highly intoxicated Ps indicated that they were more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors. Sexual fear was modestly negatively related to risky sex likelihood among sober or mildly intoxicated Ps but strongly positively related to risky sex likelihood among highly intoxicated Ps. Findings underscore the notion that alcohol affects different types of individuals differently and indicate that alcohol may foster sexual risk-taking, in part, by attenuating or counteracting fear or anxiety.

Effects of alcohol and expectancies on HIV-related risk perception and behavioral skills in heterosexual women

This experiment tested the effects of alcohol and expectancies on determinants of safer sex according to the information-motivation-behavioral skills model. Sixty heterosexual women attended 2 sessions. During Session 1, participants completed a set of descriptive measures; during Session 2 they were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 beverage conditions: control, alcohol-low (.35 gm alcohol/kg body weight), alcohol-moderate (.70 gm alcohol/kg body weight), or placebo. After beverage consumption, all participants completed measures of motivation to engage in risky sex and condom use negotiation skills. Results showed that the higher dose of alcohol and stronger alcohol expectancies were associated with greater motivation to engage in risky sexual behavior. However, perceived intoxication, rather than actual alcohol consumption or expectancies, was the best predictor of condom use negotiation skills. Integration of the findings with past research and their implication for the design of HIV-prevention programs are discussed.