Alcohol & Men's Sexual Risk Behaviors

Summary

This project extends the investigators' previous research regarding the intersecting risks of alcohol, sexual risk behavior (SRB), and sexual aggression (SA) in male drinkers who have sex with women by examining the mediating and moderating roles of both intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional factors. While independent streams of research consistently document alcohol's role in SRB and SA, the investigators' work has demonstrated that these behaviors are related, and that alcohol exacerbates their likelihood both independently and synergistically. The researchers' investigations focus on a particular type of SRB: men's resistance to condom use with female partners who want to have protected sex. Condom use resistance (CUR) is common and normative among young male drinkers, with up to 80% of men reporting engaging in CUR. Of particular concern, research demonstrates that up to 42% of men report using coercive CUR tactics such as emotional manipulation, deception, condom sabotage, and force to obtain unprotected sex. Investigators will evaluate hypotheses that distal and proximal emotional and alcohol factors influence in-the-moment SRB/CUR intentions as well as daily alcohol use and SRB/CUR. The investigators will also examine whether the relationships among assessed variables are similar across experimental and naturalistic settings. That is, investigate the extent to which men's responses in the lab parallel their real-world drinking and SRB/CUR behaviors, particularly regarding self and partner emotions, empathy, and interpersonal stress.

Conditions

• Sexual Behavior
• Alcohol Drinking
• Sexual Aggression
• Emotions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Alcoholic Beverage

Participants will consume an alcoholic beverage (vodka mixed with fruit juice) that is the equivalent of 3-4 standard alcoholic drinks based on their body weight.

BEHAVIORAL

Non-alcoholic Beverage

Participants will consume a nonalcoholic beverage (fruit juice) that is the isovolemic equivalent of 3-4 standard alcoholic drinks based on their body weight.

BEHAVIORAL

Partner Negative Mood Manipulation

Participants will engage in a laboratory task and will then report their own and their partner's emotions following the task.

BEHAVIORAL

Partner Positive Mood Manipulation

Participants will engage in a laboratory task and will then report their own and their partner's emotions following the task.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

  collaborator NIH

• Georgia State University

  collaborator OTHER

• Arizona State University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Kelly Davis, PhD · Arizona State University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

21 Years

Max Age

30 Years

Sex

MALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-06-17

Primary Completion

2027-12-31

Completion

2027-12-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations