Effects of Alcohol and Expectancies on HIV-Related Risk Perception and Behavioral Skills in Heterosexual Women.

Abstract

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 two sessions. During session 1, participants completed a set of descriptive measures; during session 2 they were randomly assigned to one of four 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.Despite the decline in the incidence of HIV transmission in the United States for males during the 1990s, the rates increased for heterosexual women in the young adult age range (18-30 years; Karon, Fleming, Steketee, & De Cock, 2001;Logan, Cole, & Leukefeld, 2002). Although there have been major advances in pharmacological management of HIV disease in recent years, this disease has no known cure. Accordingly, emphasis continues to be placed on the prevention of HIV transmission (Centers for Disease Control, 2000).Because of the importance of prevention of HIV infection, many studies of the hypothesized determinants of condom use, including alcohol use, have been conducted. The large majority of these studies have been cross-sectional, interview or survey studies of a variety of population subgroups. The most useful of these studies for describing the association between acute alcohol intoxication and failure to use condoms or other risky (for transmission of HIV) sexual practices are event-level studies (Leigh, 2002;Weinhardt & Carey, 2001). Both Leigh's and Weinhardt and Carey's reviews show that there is no general, negative association between acute alcohol intoxication and the use of condoms during sex, as global association studies have implied. Instead, the relationship between acute alcohol intoxication and the likelihood of the occurrence of risky sexual behavior seems to be dependent on characteristics of the individuals involved and contextual factors.Correspondence should be sent to Stephen A. Maisto, Department of Psychology and Center for Health and Behavior, Syracuse University, 430 Huntington Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244-2340. Electronic mail may be sent to samaisto@psych.syr.edu. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptThe correlational research literature on the determinants of HIV/AIDS risky sexual behavior has helped to advance knowledge about factors associated with such behavior, with consequent improvement in the e...

Indirect Effects of Acute Alcohol Intoxication on Sexual Risk-taking: The Roles of Subjective and Physiological Sexual Arousal

“…Consistent with the Maisto et al (2004) finding, only the higher dosage increased risk-taking beyond the control condition. When intoxication and self-reported sexual arousal were examined simultaneously, alcohol had no direct impact on risky sexual behavior likelihood.…”

Effects of Alcohol and Blood Alcohol Concentration Limb on Sexual Risk-Taking Intentions

“…Maisto et al (2002) found that women who reported a greater perceived level of intoxication also exhibited poorer condom negotiation skills in a role-playing scenario. This fi nding was replicated in a subsequent experiment (Maisto et al, 2004a). In a similar study with men, alcohol consumption itself, rather than perceived intoxication, was predictive of men's condom negotiation skill level (Maisto et al, 2004b).…”

Patterns of Alcohol Use and Expectancies Predict Sexual Risk Taking Among Non-Problem Drinking Women

“…However, it is concerning because greater alcohol use and intoxication are associated with impaired decision-making processes and a narrowing of one's attention that may decrease the perception of risk associated with a sexual situation (Fromme et al, 1999;Maisto et al, 2004;Steele and Josephs, 1990;Taylor and Leonard, 1983). Indeed, recent experimental research has demonstrated a link between acute alcohol intoxication and sexual appraisals among women asked to project themselves into a story depicting a sexual interaction.…”