Correlates of alcohol-related regretted sex among college students.

Alcohol use in college students significantly increases the risk for experiencing a number of sexual consequences (Lewis, Rees, Logan, Kaysen, & Kilmer, 2010; Testa & Parks, 1996; Ullman, Karbatsos, & Koss, 1999). More specifically, alcohol use increases the likelihood that an individual fails to use a condom during sexual activity (Bagnall, Plante, & Warwick, 1990; Cooper, 2002; Wechsler, Davenport, Dowdall, Moeykens, & Castillo, 1994), engages in sexual activity with new partners (Cooper & Orcutt, 1997), or engages in unplanned sexual activity (Wechsler, Dowdall, Maenner, Gledhill-Hoyt, & Lee, 1998). Further, alcohol use is associated with lower sexual assertiveness (Maisto et al., 2004) and increased risk for sexual aggression (Abbey, 2008). Over an academic year, 1 in 20 college women experience rape, and 72% of these assaults occur when the victim was too intoxicated to consent (Mohler-Kuo, Dowdall, Koss, & Wechsler, 2004). Alcohol use is also associated with sexual regret, a construct defined as a negative emotion involving self-blame (Connolly & Zeelenberg, 2002; Gilovich & Medvec, 1995; Zeelenberg, 1999). Conceptually, regretted sexual experiences are considered to be “regrets of action”, in which regret is related to a behavior the individual feels they should not have done and resulted in an undesired outcome (Gilovich & Medvec, 1995; Zeelenberg, van den Bos, van Dijk, & Pieters, 2002). Whereas sexual encounters that last only one night with a brief acquaintance or stranger (e.g., “hookups”) are common among college students (Armstrong, Hamilton, & England, 2010; Paul, McManus, & Hayes, 2000), such experiences are frequently associated with disappointment and regret (Paul & Hayes, 2002). In fact, Eshbaugh and Gute’s (2008) study of sexually active college women indicated that sexual intercourse with a partner only once and engaging in sexual intercourse with someone known for less than 24 hours were predictive of sexual regret. Other common reasons for regretted sexual experiences include engaging in sexual activity with someone they normally would not have desired (Workman, 2001), failure to use a condom (Morojele et al., 2004), or realizing that alcohol influenced the decision to have sex (Oswalt, Cameron, & Koob, 2005). Regarding the prevalence of sexual regret, as many as 194 of 270 (72%) sexually active college students report at least one regretted sexual experience in their lifetime (Oswalt et al., 2005). Alcohol is a common correlate of regretted sex. Over a relatively short 4-week period, 9% of undergraduates report regretting a sexual experience that occurred after consuming alcohol (Kypri, Paschall, Langley, Cashell-Smith, & Bourdeau, 2009), and 21% of college students report an alcohol-related regretted sexual experiences in the past year (Mallett, Lee, Neighbors, Larimer, & Turrisi, 2006). Specifically, individuals who report alcohol-related regretted sex, compared to peers without such an experience, are more likely to engage in high levels of weekly (Mallett, Bachrach, & Turrisi, 2008) and monthly drinking (Morojele et al., 2004). Alcohol is also commonly involved in sexual “hookups” (Armstrong et al., 2010; Paul et al., 2000). To our knowledge, only one study has examined the attitudes and beliefs associated with alcohol-related regretted sex. Specifically, Morojele and colleagues’ (2004) study of South African adults ages 24 to 44 indicated the belief that alcohol enhances sex appeal predicted regretted sexual experiences. Whereas Morojele and colleagues’ (2004) research utilized a single item to assess beliefs regarding the effect of alcohol on sexuality, there are several well-validated assessments that survey several domains of alcohol expectancies (e.g., Fromme, Stroot, & Kaplan, 1993; Ham, Stewart, Norton, & Hope, 2005). Alcohol expectancies are beliefs about the anticipated outcomes of alcohol consumption (Cooper, 1994). Given the individuals who believe alcohol enhances sexuality tend to perceive fewer negative consequences associated with risky behavior when drinking (Dermen, Cooper, & Agocha, 1998; Fromme, D’Amico, & Katz, 1999), it is feasible that alcohol expectancies may play a role in alcohol-related regretted sex among college students. For example, individuals who report that alcohol consumption will enhance their sexuality may use alcohol to pursue sexual partnerships (Kotchick, Shaffer, Forehand, & Miller, 2001), and underestimate the likelihood of encountering an undesired outcome as a result of the experience. Understanding the characteristics of students who report alcohol-related regretted sex is warranted, given the prevalence of this behavior and the lack of research addressing this phenomenon. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to explore correlates of regretted sexual experiences that involve alcohol use among two of the most commonly studied high-risk groups on campus, mandated and first-year volunteer college students. We examined four hypotheses based on the existing literature. First, we hypothesized reports of alcohol-related regretted sex would be more common in mandated students, as they had already manifested problem drinking behaviors. Studies of alcohol interventions for college students typically utilize students who are mandated to intervention following an alcohol policy violation (e.g., Borsari & Carey, 2005; White et al., 2006), or samples of students who volunteer to participate (e.g., Walters & Neighbors, 2005; Turrisi et al., 2009). However, questions remain regarding potential differences between these two populations in the frequency and type of consequences experienced (Barnett & Read, 2005). Second, we hypothesized women would be more likely than men to report engaging in alcohol-related regretted sex. Research has explored whether rates of regretted sex (regardless of alcohol use) vary between men and women (Bonomo et al., 2001; Oswalt et al., 2005; Roese et al., 2006). Studies suggest social norms for acceptable sexual behavior tend to vary by gender (Herold & Mewhinney, 1993) such that men are rewarded for having more sexual partners (Crawford & Popp, 2003), women are more likely to regret engaging in a sexual encounter, and men are more likely to regret not engaging in a sexual encounter (Dickson, Paul, Herbison, & Silva, 1998; Klassen, Williams, & Levitt, 1989; Roese et al., 2006). We also examined two hypotheses testing theoretical constructs. First, according to Problem Behavior Theory (Jessor & Jessor, 1975), alcohol related problems occur as a result of shared risk factors for other risk behaviors. We therefore predicted that risk for regretted sex after consuming alcohol would be significantly associated with other heavy alcohol use and the experience of other drinking-related problems. Second, alcohol myopia theory (Steele & Josephs, 1990; Taylor & Leonard, 1983) posits that increased alcohol consumption is associated with decreased attention to impelling and inhibiting cues. Thus, when attention is narrowed to the most salient cues following alcohol consumption, behavior may be influenced by intra-individual expectations for sexual enhancement (George & Stoner, 2000). Thus, we hypothesized alcohol expectancies, including expectancies for sexuality (Corbin, Bernat, Calhoun, McNair, & Seals, 2001) and assertiveness or “liquid courage” (see Martin & Hoffman, 1993 for a review) would significantly predict alcohol-related regretted sex.