Sociosexuality and Sex With New Partners: Indirect Effects Via Drinking at Parties and Bars

The Relationship Between Men's Sociosexuality, Drinking Intake, and Blackouts

Background: Sociosexuality-attitudes, behaviors, and desires related to casual sex-partly predicts drinking behavior in both men and women because drinking is thought to facilitate interactions that lead to casual sex. It follows that sociosexuality would predict drinking intake (e.g., quantity consumed)-but perhaps not drinking consequences (e.g., blacking out)-on the premise that drinking large quantities with high frequency (but not to such high degrees/levels of intoxication that negative consequences occur) would facilitate casual sex. Objectives: This set of studies evaluated whether baseline measures of sociosexuality predict drinking intake (i.e., frequency, quantity, and binge drinking) but not experiencing blacking out at follow-up in two samples (Study 1, N = 172; Study 2, N = 1,038) of college-aged men. Results: As predicted, men's sociosexuality prospectively predicted drinking frequency, quantity, and binge drinking. Contrary to our predictions, men's sociosexuality also predicted blacking out. Conclusions: College men's drinking interventions should be tailored to high-risk groups and consider individual differences like sociosexuality.

Precollege Risk Markers for College Rape and Verbal Sexual Coercion: Same or Different?

Verbal sexual coercion (VSC) and rape are common experiences among college women. Although they have been theorized to involve different risk markers, few prospective studies have examined predictors of VSC and rape separately. The present prospective study was designed to identify precollege risk markers for VSC and rape in first-year college women, with the goal of considering the degree to which they overlap or differ. Women (N = 449) recruited from the community just prior to high school graduation completed measures of sexual victimization (SV) since age 14 but prior to college, sexual refusal assertiveness, high school heavy episodic drinking (HED), college drinking intentions, and sociosexuality. Follow-up surveys at the end of the first and second college semesters assessed VSC and rape. Using the Sexual Experiences Survey's severity scoring method, women were classified into one of three groups according to the most severe type of SV reported in the first year of college: neither VSC nor rape (71%), VSC (16%), and rape (13%). Most women who experienced rape (73%) also experienced VSC. Precollege SV and college drinking intentions predicted both rape and VSC. Sexual refusal assertiveness and high school HED did not independently predict either form of victimization. Sociosexuality predicted rape but not VSC. Findings suggest a substantial overlap in the predictors of VSC and rape and support the severity continuum underlying many conceptualizations of SV.

Alcohol's Role in Sexual Decision Making in First-Year College Women: An Event-Level Assessment

Sexual decision making is often grounded in social scripts that can be detrimental to women's healthy relationship and sexual development during the transition to college. Little is known about the malleable decision-making processes and drinking behaviors that influence sexual behaviors from day-to-day. We examined whether women were more likely to engage in sexual behaviors on days they had higher intentions and willingness to engage in sex or drink alcohol. We also explored interactions between sex- and alcohol-related decision constructs. Eighty-two first-year college women completed 14-days of ecological momentary assessment, reporting on alcohol- and sex-related intentions and willingness (3x daily) and daily drinking and sexual behaviors. We found partial support for our hypotheses: intentions and willingness to have sex were positively associated with sex behaviors, but willingness to drink was negatively associated with sex behaviors. Heavy drinking was associated with sexual behavior, even when women indicated no prior willingness to engage in sexual behavior on those days. Findings highlight the need to address event-level variability in sexual decision making, with a particular focus on how alcohol impacts these processes. Further, the robust association between sexual intentions and behavior suggests intention setting may be a particularly useful sexual empowerment education tool.

The Effects of Alcohol Intoxication on Perceptions of Consent and Refusal Indicators in a Fictional Alcohol-Involved Sexual Encounter

Alcohol intoxication may influence how bystanders interpret other people's consent and refusal cues. We examined the effects of alcohol intoxication on participants' perceptions of characters' consent and refusal indicators in a fictional vignette depicting an alcohol-involved sexual encounter. Young adults (n = 119, 52% women) participated in an alcohol administration experiment examining the influence of acute intoxication on bystander perceptions during a vignette depicting a character who is intoxicated and declines a sexual advance from another character, who ignores her refusal and continues to pursue sexual activity. Participants were randomly assigned to an alcohol or non-alcohol condition and then guided through a semi-structured interview in which we asked about the characters' consent and refusal cues. Interviews were analyzed using both inductive and deductive coding. Most participants eventually indicated the encounter was nonconsensual, but approximately 9% of participants described the encounter as entirely consensual and another 42% of participants described the interaction as initially consensual and then nonconsensual. Participants discussed nuanced accounts of consent and refusal cues, including indicators related to alcohol consumption. Disregarding intoxication and gender, participants eventually recognized the situation as nonconsensual and thus potentially risky. However, some participants recognized this risk earlier in the encounter than others. Consequently, bystanders who recognize risk later in a situation may have fewer opportunities to intervene before a situation escalates. We recommend sexual assault prevention educators take a more nuanced approach when discussing consent and refusal indicators, emphasizing contextual factors that may indicate risk.

Do Risk Factors for Incapacitated and Other Sexual Assault Differ for Black and White College Women? A Preliminary Investigation

Heavy episodic drinking (HED) and hookups are risk factors for college women's sexual assault (SA). Black women engage in these behaviors less frequently than White women. We prospectively examined HED and hookups as mechanisms of incapacitated SA (ISA) and other SA (OSA) risks for Black and White first-year college women and sociocontextual factors that may contribute differentially to risk. In mediation analyses, Black women's less frequent HED predicted lower ISA. SA characteristics (e.g., setting) also differed by race. Mechanisms and types of assault risk may not be the same for all college women, an important consideration for intervention efforts.

It's not just drinking, but where you drink: A daily diary study of drinking venue effects on sexual activity with new partners

It is well established that young adults' drinking is positively associated with sexual activity with new partners. While pharmacologic effects of alcohol (e.g., impaired sexual decision-making) can contribute to sexual activity with new partners, the context in which alcohol is consumed may also be important. We tested the hypothesis that drinking venues such as parties and bars increase the likelihood of sexual activity with new partners beyond any pharmacological effects of drinking quantity. Participants were 427 first-year men (aged 18-19). They reported on their relationship status and sociosexuality (i.e., attitudes/behaviors related to casual sex) at baseline and completed daily diary reports of drinking events (including number of drinks and venue) and sexual activity with new or previous partners over the span of 56 days. Drinking events at parties/bars (but not at home) increased the odds of sexual activity in the next four hours with new partners (but not with previous partners), even after controlling for the number of drinks consumed. Parties/bars are an integral part of facilitating sexual activity with new partners, and have effects independent of pharmacological alcohol effects, which has implications for reducing alcohol-related risky sexual activity. Interventions should not only target alcohol consumption, but where consumption takes place.