The cumulative effects of acute alcohol consumption, individual differences and situational perceptions on sexual decision making.

Abstract

Objective-Past alcohol administration research has produced mixed findings regarding the role of acute alcohol consumption on sexual decision making. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a more complex theoretical model that places alcohol's acute effects in context, through the inclusion of background measures as well as affective and cognitive responses to the specific situation.Method-College students (90 men, 90 women) completed a survey that included measures of individual difference characteristics and past experiences; approximately 1 month later, they participated in an alcohol administration study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three drink conditions (sober, placebo, alcohol), after which they read a story about a couple that wanted to have sex, but had no condoms available.Results-In hierarchical multiple regression analyses, acute alcohol consumption significantly predicted participants' perceived likelihood that they would have sex without a condom in such a situation; an earlier step included gender, impulsivity, self-reported alcohol expectancies, frequency of heavy drinking, lifetime number of sexual partners and frequency of condom use. There was no significant effect associated with the expectancy that one had consumed alcohol. Neither was there a significant interaction between drink condition and self-reported alcohol expectancies.Conclusions-Through the inclusion of measures of individual differences and responses to the specific situation, this study provides a more nuanced understanding of the factors that affect college students' sexual decision making, compared with laboratory studies that examine the effects of acute alcohol consumption in isolation. Alcohol consumption explained a significant yet relatively small amount of variance. Researchers need to consider the broader context to understand how intoxication influences sexual decision making. (Douglas et al., 1997;Lewis et al., 1996). HHS Public AccessIntoxication was identified early in the AIDS epidemic as a contributor to risky sexual decision making (Leigh and Stall, 1993). Heavy drinking and sexual risk taking frequently co-occur. This is a particularly serious problem on college campuses where, depending on the type of school and location, approximately 20% to 50% of students are likely to be heavy drinkers (Vicary and Karshin, 2002). Of a national sample of college students, 10% reported that during the current academic year there had been at least one occasion when they had not used protection during sexual intercourse after drinking alcohol (Wechsler et al., 2002).Over the past decade, researchers have moved from simply documenting the general association between alcohol consumption and risky sexual activities to posing more sophisticated research questions and employing methods that better address issues of causality (for reviews of this literature, see Cooper, 2002;. Conflicting findings have required the development of more sophisticated theories that focus on both the types of individuals a...

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

“…colleagues (2002, 2004a,b) similarly found that acute alcohol intoxication increased men's and women's risky sex intentions during role playing of risky sexual situations. Using a written hypothetical risky sexual scenario, Abbey et al (2005) reported that alcohol consumption signifi cantly increased participants' intentions of engaging in unprotected sex in such a situation. In sum, extant experimental research using a variety of stimulus material has provided consistent evidence that alcohol consumption increases heterosexual risk-taking intentions.…”

“…Three separate studies have investigated the joint infl uence of being both sexually aroused and intoxicated (Abbey et al, 2005;George et al, 2009;MacDonald et al, 2000). Abbey et al (2005) found that men's and women's perceived sexual arousal predicted their risky sex intentions over and above alcohol's effects. MacDonald et al (2000) found that alcohol consumption increased sexual risk-taking intentions only for men who reported higher levels of sexual arousal.…”

“…Unprotected heterosexual contact is increasingly a source of HIV transmission: The proportion of U.S. AIDS cases attributed to heterosexual contact increased from 3% in 1985 to 32% in 2005 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007). Although the risk of heterosexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections can be greatly reduced through the consistent, correct use of male latex condoms (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 2009), consistent condom use during sexual activity may be hampered by a number of factors, including alcohol intoxication (e.g., Abbey et al, 2005). To address this serious public health concern, research regarding the role of alcohol in decisions to engage in unprotected sex is highly warranted.…”

Sexual Disinhibition Under Sexual Arousal: Evidence for Domain Specificity in Men and Women

“…Regarding the effects of sexual arousal, many studies have measured subjective or genital sexual arousal and found that individual differences in sexual arousal in response to arousing stimuli were associated with individual differences in the self-reported readiness to engage in unprotected sex (Abbey, Saenz, & Buck, 2005;Norris et al, 2009) or differences in self-estimated likelihood to sexually aggress in men (Davis, Norris, George, Martell, & Heiman, 2006a). Measured sexual arousal has also been found to mediate the effects of alcohol on the likelihood of agreeing to unprotected sex in men and women Prause, Staley, & Finn, 2011), women's rape myth acceptance (Davis, Norris, George, Martell, & Heiman, 2006b), and men's self-rated likelihood to sexually aggress (Davis et al, 2006a).…”

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

“…In general, positive alcohol outcome expectancies have been associated with more risk taking than negative beliefs about alcohol (Fromme et al, 1997). Alcohol-related sexual beliefs have been related to unsafe sexual outcomes including unprotected sex (Abbey et al, 2005;Cooper, 2002;George and Stoner, 2000). Research suggests that positive expectancies about the sexual-enhancement effects of alcohol predict more frequent substance use in sexual contexts (Kalichman et al, 1998).…”