title: Assessing sexual motives for drinking alcohol among HIV-positive men who have sex with men.
abstract: Individuals who drink alcohol for the explicit motive of facilitating or enhancing sex may be more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior, including having sex under the influence of alcohol. However, efforts to assess sexual motives for drinking (SMDs) have been very limited to date. We examined the psychometric properties of a 5-item measure of SMDs in a sample of HIV-positive heavy drinking men who have sex with men. Findings provided excellent support for the scale's internal consistency and concurrent validity with a well-established measure of sexual alcohol expectancies (SAEs). Good discriminant validity was also established, as SMDs were correlated with other drinking motives but uniquely predicted the proportion of sex acts occurring under the influence of alcohol and other drugs, over and above other drinking motives and SAEs. SMDs were not significantly associated with unprotected anal intercourse. Adjusting for alcohol problem severity, higher SMDs were associated with lower willingness to consider changing drinking. Results suggest this measure of SMDs exhibits sound psychometric properties and may be useful in studies examining the association between alcohol use and sexual behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies.
authors.forename: Christopher W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Kahler
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies.
authors.forename: Tyler B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Wray
authors.affiliation: Fenway Institute, Fenway Health Boston.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Pantalone
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies.
authors.forename: Nadine R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Mastroleo
authors.affiliation: Fenway Institute, Fenway Health Boston.
authors.forename: Ryan D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Kruis
authors.affiliation: Fenway Institute, Fenway Health Boston.
authors.forename: Kenneth H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies.
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Monti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000523:psychology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation / Q000187:drug effects*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs