Men, Mood, and Attention Study: Examination of Alcohol, State Anger, and Emotion Regulation Sexual Aggression

Summary

Given the public health and social relevance of sexual aggression and the gap in the extant literature regarding state anger, emotion regulation, alcohol, and sexual aggression, the present study will contribute to our understanding of emotion regulation's role in sexual aggression perpetration. The proposed 2-year research plan will examine the effects of alcohol intoxication, state anger, and emotion regulation on men's sexual aggression intentions. This study will recruit non-monogamous, men (individuals who identify their gender as male and whose biological sex is male) who have sex with women, ages 21-35. While more research on female perpetrators is needed, the proposed study will exclusively recruit males for the following reasons: 1) the scientific literature indicating the majority of sexually aggressive acts are perpetrated by men; and 2) the current sexual aggression analog has not been piloted with female participants and would require preliminary experiments to determine its appropriateness. The study will utilize a 2x2 design in which participants are randomized to beverage condition \[alcohol (target BAC= .08gm%) or control (no alcohol control)\] and an emotion induction (anger induction or control). The outcomes will be assessed using a sexual aggression analog which participants will complete on the descending limb of alcohol intoxication and indicate the likelihood that they would engage in various sexually aggressive acts. The study also includes self-report measurements of state anger and emotion regulation to explore emotion regulation as a moderator in the associations among alcohol intoxication, state anger, and sexual aggression intentions.

Conditions

• Alcohol Intoxication
• Anger

Interventions

OTHER

Alcohol Administration

The clinical trial does not involve any treatment. Participant will be randomly assigned to receive alcohol (BAC = .08%) or water (BAC = .00%).

OTHER

Mood Induction

The clinical trial does not involve any treatment. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive an anger emotion induction or a control (neutral) mood induction.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)

  collaborator NIH

• Elizabeth C Neilson

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Elizabeth C Neilson, PhD · Assistant Professor

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

21 Years

Max Age

35 Years

Sex

MALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-09-01

Primary Completion

2021-08-31

Completion

2021-08-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations