Room 517-C | The Role of Drugs & Alcohol in Sexual Risk-Taking Friday, July 15, 2005 Time: 8:30 AM-10:30 AM |
Sexual Risk Behavior: The Role of Alcohol Intoxication and Sexual Arousal.
Davis, Kelly*,1, George, William1, Heiman, Julia 2, Norris, Jeanette3, 1 University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA2 The Kinsey Institute, Bloomington, Indiana, USA3 Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, Seattle, Washington, USA
ABSTRACT- Although research has documented an association between alcohol and sexual risk-taking, the roles of proximal factors in this relationship, such as acute alcohol intoxication and sexual arousal, remain unknown. In this experimental investigation of the alcohol-risky sex link, male and female hetersexual participants (N=288)randomly received a high alcohol dose or no alcohol and were then instructed to maximize or suppress their sexual arousal to erotic film clips while their physiological sexual arounsal was recorded. Participants then read an eroticized scenario involving a sexual encounter and rated their likelihood of engaging in sexually risky behaviors. Results revealed a direct relationship between alcohol intoxication and increased sexual risk-taking likelihood for men. For women, however, alcohol intoxication was only indirectly related to increased sexual risk-taking likelihood through greater self-reported sexual arousal. These findings reveal that the pathways through which alcohol influences risky sexual behavior may differ for men and women.
Key words: alcohol, sexual arousal, sexual risk-taking