Men's Sexual Risk Behaviors: Alcohol, Sexual Aggression, and Emotional Factors
Condition: Sexual Behavior; Alcohol Drinking; Sexual Aggression; Emotions
MeSH terms: Aggression; Alcohol Drinking
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Although correct, consistent condom use can greatly reduce sexually transmitted infections
      and unplanned pregnancies, resistance of condom use is common among young adults. Young men's
      alcohol intoxication and sexual aggression history are predictive of greater condom use
      resistance and other sexual risk behaviors (e.g., unprotected sex). Moreover, emotional
      factors may play a role in these associations, suggesting a promising avenue for continued
      research. This project builds upon our prior research through investigation of the emotional
      mechanisms involved in young men's alcohol-related sexual risk behavior. This research
      addresses a critical knowledge gap and advances the field through the use of multiple methods
      designed to evaluate distal and proximal emotional factors implicated in alcohol-related
      sexual risk. Male drinkers aged 21-30 who use condoms inconsistently (N = 420) will first
      complete a screening procedure followed by a baseline survey that will assess relevant
      constructs, including emotional traits, emotion dysregulation tendencies, and alcohol
      expectancies. They will then complete a 30-day daily diary assessment of their daily
      emotional states, daily coping motives pertaining to drinking and sex, and daily drinking and
      sexual risk behaviors to evaluate daily relationships among these factors. The same
      participants will complete an in-lab experiment assessing in-the-moment effects of alcohol
      intoxication and provocation on emotional states and sexual risk intentions. Statistical
      analyses will be used to examine the daily influence of emotional states and coping motives
      on alcohol consumption and sexual risk behaviors and the experimental effects of alcohol
      intoxication and provocation on emotional states and other mediators, as well as sexual risk
      intentions. Moderating effects of emotion dysregulation tendencies will also be examined, and
      the linkages between event-level and experimental relationships will be investigated. This
      research is both significant and innovative in that it will address the public health concern
      of men's sexual risk behaviors, including condom use resistance; will evaluate the role of
      emotional processes in men's alcohol-related sexual risk; and will use multiple methods to
      gather complementary types of data that will elucidate the mechanisms underlying
      alcohol-related sexual risk behaviors and provide an empirical evidence base from which to
      develop and inform prevention and intervention programs.
    


Intervention name(s): High provocation manipulation; Low provocation manipulation; Alcoholic beverage; Non-alcoholic beverage
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral; Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Participants will engage in a laboratory task and will then report their emotions following the task.; Participants will engage in a laboratory task and will then report their emotions following the task.; 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.; Participants will consume a nonalcoholic beverage (fruit juice) that is the isovolemic equivalent of 3-4 standard alcoholic drinks based on their body weight.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Factorial Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: Condom use resistance; Emotion dysregulation