Intoxicated sexual risk taking: an expectancy or cognitive impairment explanation?
OBJECTIVE
Two experimental studies tested expectancy and impairment explanations for the association between alcohol consumption and unsafe sexual behaviors.


METHODS
Young adults, who were administered alcohol (blood alcohol concentration mean = .08 mg%), placebo or water, rated the likelihood that potential consequences would result from risky sexual practices (Study 1, N = 161) and listed potential consequences that could result from having sex without a condom (Study 2, N = 135).


RESULTS
Intoxicated participants reported lower perceptions of risk (mean [+/-SD] = 4.5+/-2.1) than those who received placebo (mean = 5.8+/-1.3) or water (mean = 5.5+/-1.7). Intoxicated participants also listed fewer negative consequences (mean = 1.3+/-1.2) than those who received placebo (mean = 1.5+/-1.2) or water (mean = 2.1+/-1.5). In addition, participants who expected alcohol to disinhibit their sexual behavior reported stronger postdrinking perceptions of benefit (mean = 2.6+/-1.8) and indicated that they were more likely to engage in risky sexual practices (mean = 2.4+/-1.7) than those who did not expect sexual disinhibition (mean = 2.0+/-1.7, benefit; mean = 1.8+/-1.1, involvement).


CONCLUSIONS
Results support the hypotheses that (1) alcohol-related impairment reduces the drinker's perception of personal risk, and (2) positive outcome expectancies motivate drinkers to engage in risky sexual practices.
Fromme
K
K
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 78712, USA.
D'Amico
E J
EJ
Katz
E C
EC
D000328:Adult; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003071:Cognition; D017280:Condoms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012737:Sex Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*