Women's sexual arousal: Effects of high alcohol dosages and self-control instructions

William H. George, Kelly Cue Davis, Julia R. Heiman, Jeanette Norris, Susan A. Stoner, Rebecca L. Schacht, Christian S. Hendershot, Kelly F. Kajumulo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

The basic relationship between alcohol and women's sexual arousal - especially genital arousal - received little research attention for nearly 30 years (e.g. Wilson and Lawson, 1978) until very recently (e.g. George et al., 2009). To investigate hypotheses based on earlier findings and Alcohol Myopia Theory (AMT), two experiments evaluated the effects of high blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) and arousal instructional demands on indices of vaginal responding and self-reported sexual arousal. In Experiment 1, self-control instructions to maximize (versus suppress) arousal increased peak and average Vaginal Pulse Amplitude (VPA) change. Self-control also interacted with a target BAC of .08% (versus .00%) to influence latency to peak arousal onset: Intoxicated women instructed to maximize showed a shorter latency to peak arousal than did intoxicated women instructed to suppress; however, sober women showed an undifferentiated pattern. Also, in Experiment 1, the target BAC of .08% had no effect on VPA or subjective arousal measures. In Experiment 2, a target BAC of .10% (versus .00%) attenuated peak change and average change in VPA, but this dosage had no effects on latency to peak achieved arousal, or on subjective arousal. Instructions to maximize arousal (versus no instruction) had no effect on any arousal measures. Overall, among young moderate drinking women, alcohol had attenuating effects but only at the higher dosage. Maximize versus suppress instructions about arousal had predicted effects on arousal and interactive effects on latency, but only at the lower dosage. The findings highlight the importance of dosage and contextual factors in alcohol's impact on the variability of women's sexual responding.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)730-738
Number of pages9
JournalHormones and Behavior
Volume59
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Alcohol
  • Sexual arousal
  • Sexual dysfunction
  • Sexual response
  • Sexuality
  • Vaginal plethysmography
  • Vaginal pulse
  • Women

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Endocrinology
  • Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
  • Behavioral Neuroscience

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Women's sexual arousal: Effects of high alcohol dosages and self-control instructions'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this