TY - JOUR
T1 - Indirect effects of acute alcohol intoxication on sexual risk-taking
T2 - The roles of subjective and physiological sexual arousal
AU - George, William H.
AU - Davis, Kelly Cue
AU - Norris, Jeanette
AU - Heiman, Julia R.
AU - Stoner, Susan A.
AU - Schacht, Rebecca L.
AU - Hendershot, Christian S.
AU - Kajumulo, Kelly F.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements Appreciation is expressed to Dr. Erick Janssen for consultation in plethysmography instrumentation and stimulus selection and to Tina Zawacki, Reasons Project staff, and numerous undergraduate assistants for their aid in data collection. Conduct of this research was supported in part by a Grant from the National Institute on
PY - 2009/8
Y1 - 2009/8
N2 - Three experiments supported the idea that alcohol fosters sexual risk-taking in men and women, in part, through its effects on sexual arousal. In Experiment 1, increasing alcohol dosage (target blood alcohol levels of .00, .04, .08%) heightened men's and women's risk-taking intentions. Alcohol's effect was indirect via increased subjective sexual arousal; also, men exhibited greater risk-taking than women. In Experiment 2, an extended dosage range (target blood alcohol levels of .00, .06, .08, .10%) heightened men's risk-taking intentions. Alcohol's effect again was indirect via subjective arousal. Physiological sexual arousal, which was unaffected by alcohol, increased risk-taking via increased subjective arousal. In Experiment 3, alcohol increased women's risk-taking indirectly via subjective arousal, but alcohol-attenuated physiological arousal had no effect on risk-taking. Implications for alcohol myopia theory and prevention interventions are discussed.
AB - Three experiments supported the idea that alcohol fosters sexual risk-taking in men and women, in part, through its effects on sexual arousal. In Experiment 1, increasing alcohol dosage (target blood alcohol levels of .00, .04, .08%) heightened men's and women's risk-taking intentions. Alcohol's effect was indirect via increased subjective sexual arousal; also, men exhibited greater risk-taking than women. In Experiment 2, an extended dosage range (target blood alcohol levels of .00, .06, .08, .10%) heightened men's risk-taking intentions. Alcohol's effect again was indirect via subjective arousal. Physiological sexual arousal, which was unaffected by alcohol, increased risk-taking via increased subjective arousal. In Experiment 3, alcohol increased women's risk-taking indirectly via subjective arousal, but alcohol-attenuated physiological arousal had no effect on risk-taking. Implications for alcohol myopia theory and prevention interventions are discussed.
KW - Alcohol
KW - HIV/AIDS
KW - Sexual arousal
KW - Sexual risk
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U2 - 10.1007/s10508-008-9346-9
DO - 10.1007/s10508-008-9346-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 18431618
AN - SCOPUS:67651180956
SN - 0004-0002
VL - 38
SP - 498
EP - 513
JO - Archives of Sexual Behavior
JF - Archives of Sexual Behavior
IS - 4
ER -