Men's Sexual Risk Behaviors: Alcohol, Sexual Aggression, and Emotional Factors

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.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Alcohol Drinking; Sexual Behavior; Emotions; Sexual Aggression
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Alcoholic beverage; Behavioral: Non-alcoholic beverage; Behavioral: High provocation manipulation; Behavioral: Low provocation manipulation

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 420
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Arizona
    • Phoenix, Arizona, United States, 85004
      • Arizona State University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years to 30 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Single
• Male
• Ages 21-30
• Engagement in unprotected intercourse with a woman at least once in the past year -
• Consumed alcohol at least 2 times per week in the past 30 days
• Had sex with a woman at least 2 times in the past 30 days

Exclusion Criteria:

• A history of alcohol problems
• A medical condition and/or medications which contraindicate alcohol consumption
• In a relationship that is monogamous and has lasted longer than 6 months

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Alcoholic beverage, High Provocation Manipulation; Participants will receive a dose of alcohol mixed in fruit juice designed to achieve a peak breath alcohol concentration of .08%. Participants then receive an experimental manipulation designed to evoke negative emotions such as frustration.	Behavioral: Alcoholic beverage; 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.; Behavioral: High provocation manipulation; Participants will engage in a laboratory task and will then report their emotions following the task.
Experimental: Non-alcoholic beverage, High Provocation Manipulation; Participants will receive a beverage that does not contain alcohol (fruit juice only). Participants then receive an experimental manipulation designed to evoke negative emotions such as frustration.	Behavioral: Non-alcoholic beverage; Participants will consume a nonalcoholic beverage (fruit juice) that is the isovolemic equivalent of 3-4 standard alcoholic drinks based on their body weight.; Behavioral: High provocation manipulation; Participants will engage in a laboratory task and will then report their emotions following the task.
Experimental: Alcoholic beverage, Low provocation manipulation; Participants will receive a dose of alcohol mixed in fruit juice designed to achieve a peak breath alcohol concentration of .08%. Participants receive an experimental manipulation designed to evoke positive emotions.	Behavioral: Alcoholic beverage; 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.; Behavioral: Low provocation manipulation; Participants will engage in a laboratory task and will then report their emotions following the task.
Experimental: Non-alcoholic beverage, Low provocation manipulation; Participants will receive a beverage that does not contain alcohol (fruit juice only). Participants then receive an experimental manipulation designed to evoke positive emotions.	Behavioral: Non-alcoholic beverage; Participants will consume a nonalcoholic beverage (fruit juice) that is the isovolemic equivalent of 3-4 standard alcoholic drinks based on their body weight.; Behavioral: Low provocation manipulation; Participants will engage in a laboratory task and will then report their emotions following the task.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mean Score of Sexual Risk Intentions	Scale name: Intentions to have unprotected sex Construct: Self-reported ratings of unprotected sex likelihood in a hypothetical scenario Scale range: 1 (not at all likely) to 7 (very likely) A higher value is a worse outcome. This is one total scale (no subscales). Items are averaged to compute a mean score.	within one hour of receiving the intervention
Sexual Risk Behavior	Number of unprotected sexual intercourse events	30 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Arizona State University
• Collaborators: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA); Georgia State University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kelly Davis, PhD, Arizona State University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 7, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 5, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): July 5, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 28, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 1, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): April 3, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 29, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 8, 2023
• Last Verified: November 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Emotion dysregulation; Condom use resistance
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Drinking Behavior; Aggression; Alcohol Drinking
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00008097; 5R37AA025212 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: We will make available individual, de-identified participant data that underlie disseminated results.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Immediately following publication and ending 3 years following publication.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal for the use of the data.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: SAP

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No