Men's media use, sexual cognitions, and sexual risk behavior: Testing a mediational model.

Efforts to link media use to adolescents' sexual initiation have produced somewhat inconsistent results, perhaps as a result of the limited framing of the question. This study sought to expand current approaches by sampling college students instead of high school students, by investigating a range of sexual behaviors and media formats, and by testing a model that featured sexual cognitions as mediators. We tested our model with a sample of 796 heterosexual, male college students who reported on their regular consumption of 4 media (prime-time TV programs, music videos, movies, and men's magazines); their attitudes toward abstinence, the male sexual role, and nonrelational sex; their perceptions of peer sexual behavior; and several aspects of their sexual behavior (e.g., number of sexual partners). Findings revealed strong support for our mediated model, with exposure to men's magazines and movies contributing most strongly to their sexual cognitions, and with men's cognitions, in turn, contributing heavily to their sexual behavior. Some direct connections from media use to sexual behavior also emerged. Together, the findings provide insight into both potential mechanisms for and new approaches to addressing this issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-regulation as a protective factor against risky drinking and sexual behavior.

Prior research suggests that high dispositional self-regulation leads to decreased levels of risky drinking and sexual behavior in adolescence and the early years of college. Self-regulation may be especially important when individuals have easy access to alcohol and freedom to pursue sexual opportunities. In the current 1-year longitudinal study, we followed a sample of N = 1,136 college students who had recently reached the legal age to purchase alcohol and enter bars and clubs to test whether self-regulation protected against heavy episodic drinking, alcohol-related problems, and unprotected sex. We tested main effects of self-regulation and interactions among self-regulation and established risk factors (e.g., sensation seeking) on risky drinking and sexual behavior. High self-regulation inversely predicted heavy episodic drinking, alcohol-related problems, and unprotected sex, even when taking into account gender and risk factors. Moreover, in predicting unprotected sex, we found three-way interactions among self-regulation, sensation seeking, and heavy episodic drinking. Self-regulation buffered against risk associated with heavy drinking but only among those low in sensation seeking. The protective effects of self-regulation for risky drinking and sexual behavior make it a promising target for intervention, with the caveat that self-regulation may be less protective among those who are more drawn to socially and emotionally rewarding stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Medial prefrontal cortex lesions in the female rat affect sexual and maternal behavior and their sequential organization.

Temporal sequences of sexual and maternal behaviors in female rats and their correlation with each other and with performance on a sensory-motor gating response inhibition task assessed by prepulse inhibition (PPI) were investigated following medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) lesions. Following excitotoxic mPFC (n = 10) or sham (n = 9) lesions, sexual behaviors across the ovarian cycle were scored. After mating and parturition, maternal interactions were scored until pups reached postnatal Day 10. After resumption of the ovarian cycle, the female rats were tested for PPI. Compared with sham lesions, mPFC lesions impaired proceptive behaviors and some maternal behaviors (e.g., pup retrieval, pup licking) but did not affect others (e.g., nest building, pup mouthing). Lesions disrupted temporal sequences of solicitations (number of male orientations followed, within 4 s, by a level change) and pup retrievals (number of pup retrievals followed, within 5 s, by another retrieval). These sequential behavior patterns were significantly correlated with each other and with PPI. However, when PPI effects were partialled out, group differences were less strong, but persisted. This study demonstrated that mPFC manipulations affect actions rich in sequential structure in response to biologically relevant stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

HIV risk correlates among non-injection cocaine dependent men in treatment

Guided by the AIDS Risk Reduction Model (ARRM), psychosocial correlates of HIV risk behavior were examined among noninjection cocaine dependent, heterosexual men (NI-CD-HM) in treatment. Subjects (N = 111) completed a structured interview to measure ARRM mediating variables and HIV risk behaviors. The results indicated that greater perceived susceptibility to contracting HIV, lower sexual self-efficacy, higher lifetime incidence of sexually transmitted diseases, and being under the influence of alcohol or other drugs during sex predicted having more sexual partners in the month prior to admission. Despite adequate knowledge of safer sex guidelines, subjects remained misinformed regarding certain aspects of HIV transmission. Men who perceived that their partners viewed condoms more positively and who exchanged drugs for sex were more likely to use condoms, yet condom use skills were typically inadequate to ensure effective prevention. These results suggest that HIV prevention interventions among NI-CD-HM should focus on improving knowledge, enhancing beliefs in the capacity to enact safer sex behaviors for preventing HIV and other STDs, building relevant skills (e.g., condom use, open sexual communication between partners), and emphasizing psychoactive substance abstinence. Couple interventions, in which partners actually rehearse safer sex negotiations, may be particularly effective in this regard.     

Patterns of sedentary behavior among adolescents.

Objective: Reducing certain sedentary behaviors (e.g., watching television, using a computer) can be an effective weight loss strategy for youth. Knowledge about whether behaviors cluster together could inform interventions. Study Design: Estimates of time spent in 6 sedentary behaviors (watching television, talking on the telephone, using a computer, listening to music, doing homework, reading) were cluster analyzed for a sample of 878 adolescents (52% girls, mean age = 12.7 years, 58% Caucasian). Main Outcome Measures: The clusters were based on the sedentary behaviors listed above and compared on environmental variables (e.g., household rules), psychosocial variables (e.g., self-efficacy, enjoyment), and health behaviors (e.g., physical activity, diet). Results: Four clusters emerged: low sedentary, medium sedentary, selective high sedentary, and high sedentary. Analyses revealed significant cluster differences for gender (p     

Is risky sexual behavior continuous or categorical? A taxometric analysis of the Sexual Risk Survey.

Risky sexual behaviors are behaviors that involve the possibility of an adverse outcome, such as contracting a sexually transmitted infection or unwanted pregnancy. The question of whether risky sexual behavior exists as a discrete class (i.e., taxon) or as a dimensional construct has not previously been explored. The authors performed a set of taxometric analyses on 4 factor scales derived from the Sexual Risk Survey (Turchik & Garske, 2009) with data from 1,103 college students. The results provided consistent support for a dimensional latent structure in which variations in reported risky sexual behavior reflect differences in degree and not differences in kind. The implications of these findings for the assessment of risky sexual behavior are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does drinking lead to sex? Daily alcohol–sex behaviors and expectancies among college students.

A within-person multilevel approach was used to model the links between alcohol use and sexual behavior among first-year college students, using up to 14 days of data for each person with occasions (Level 1, N = 2879 days) nested within people (Level 2, N = 218 people; 51.4% male). Between-persons (Level 2) effects were gender, relationship status, person means of alcohol use, and alcohol-sex expectancies for sexual affect and sexual drive. Within-person (Level 1) effects were weekend days, number of drinks consumed, and the interaction between drinks consumed and alcohol-sex expectancies. Independent of average alcohol use, consuming more drinks on a given day was associated with a greater likelihood of oral sex and with experiencing more positive consequences of sex that day. Significant Alcohol Use × Alcohol-Sex Expectancies interactions were found for oral sex and total sex behaviors, indicating that individuals with more positive expectancies were more likely to have sex after drinking. The negative association between drinks and condom use was at a trend level of significance. Results support the potential for promoting sexual health by focusing on cross-behavior expectancies among late adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Significant factors in hypnotic behavior.

This study was structured so as to be able to test 2 hypotheses derived from previous work on hypnosis (Wells, 1924), viz., that suggestions involving typical behavior under hypnosis, e.g., loss of voluntary control over muscles and speech, can be effective without the induction of a formal trance state, and that such a condition is as effective in producing the desired behavior as when the situation includes utilization of a preparatory set-inducing trance state. The 1st hypothesis was confirmed; the 2nd was not. The "trance" facilitated the presence and degree of hypnotic behavior. Personality characteristics of the more suggestible Ss were: (a) more willing to form new interpersonal relationship and (b) prone to imaginative activities, daydreaming, and fantasy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social-cognitive theory mediators of behavior change in the National Institute of Mental Health Multisite HIV Prevention Trial.

The National Institute of Mental Health Multisite HIV Prevention Trial was a trial of an intervention to reduce sexual HIV risk behaviors among 3,706 low-income at-risk men and women at 7 U.S. research sites. The intervention, based on social- cognitive theory and designed to influence behavior change by improving expected outcomes of condom use and increasing knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy to execute safer sex behaviors, was effective relative to a control condition in reducing sexual risk behavior. At 3 months after completion of the intervention, measures of these potential mediators were higher in the intervention than in the control condition. Although the effect of the intervention on sexual risk behavior was significantly reduced when the variables were controlled statistically, supporting the hypothesis of their mediation of the intervention effect, most of the effect remained unexplained, indicating the influence of unmeasured factors on outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modeling and prediction of human behavior

We propose that many human behaviors can be accurately described as a set of dynamic modes (e.g., Kalman filters) sequenced together by a Markov chain. We then use these dynamic Markov models to recognize human behaviors from sensory data and to predict human behaviors over a few seconds time. To test the power of this modeling approach, we report an experiment in which we were able to achieve 95% accuracy at predicting automobile drivers' subsequent actions from their initial preparatory movements.     

Present versus future time perspective and HIV risk among heterosexual college students.

Because safer sex behaviors require planning and forethought and their primary motivations lie in the future, the hypothesis that behaviors that might reduce exposure to HIV would positively correlate with future time orientation, whereas risky behaviors would correlate with present time orientation, was tested in a survey of 188 heterosexual college students. As expected, those high in future time orientation were less likely to be sexually experienced and had fewer sexual partners. In contrast, present time orientation positively related to those measures. Those high in future orientation were more likely to use alternate methods of reducing exposure to HIV (e.g., inquiring about partner's sexual history, delaying or abstaining from sex). Time perspective also interacted with both gender and fear of AIDS. The responses of women and individuals low in fear were more related to time orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Big Five factors of personality and replicated predictions of behavior.

Measures of the Big Five factors of personality were used to predict a variety of criterion variables thought to represent behaviors of some social and cultural significance (e.g., alcohol consumption, grade point average). Analyses focused on replicated predictions across 2 independent samples of participants (Ns=276 and 142) with 3 different measures of the Big Five (the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, and the Five-Factor Nonverbal Personality Questionnaire, the latter an experimental nonverbal personality inventory). The results indicated substantial consistency in behavior predictions across the different Big Five assessments. The data are interpreted as supporting both the construct validity of the personality measures used and the role of the Big Five factors as determinants of certain complex behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reducing STD and HIV risk behavior of substance-dependent adolescents: A randomized controlled trial.

A randomized controlled trial assessed 3 interventions designed to increase safer sex behaviors of substance-dependent adolescents. Participants (N = 161) received 12 sessions of either a health information intervention (I only), information plus skills-based safer sex training (I + B), or the same experimental condition plus a risk-sensitization manipulation (I + M + B). The I + B and I + M + B conditions, as compared with the I only condition, (a) produced more favorable attitudes toward condoms; (b) reduced the frequency of unprotected vaginal sex; and (c) increased behavioral skill performance, frequency of condom-protected sex, percentage of intercourse occasions that were condom protected, and number of adolescents who abstained from sex. The intervention that included the risk-sensitization procedures was more resistant to decay. An unexpected finding was that the I + B and I + M + B conditions produced substantial increased in sexual abstinence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists’ sexual education and training in graduate school.

The current study explored the sex education and training that clinical and counselling psychologists receive during graduate school, practicum placements and internship. There were 162 psychologists who completed an Internet survey. Although nearly all participants had received some form of education related to sexuality during their graduate training, the depth and breadth of training was limited and was not related to how long clinicians had been practising. Modelling and feedback appeared to be underutilized as training methods. Participants reported more training related to sexual problems (e.g., sexual violence, sexual disorders) than healthy sexuality (e.g., contraception, STIs/STDs). Sexuality-specific training experiences but not participant characteristics (e.g., gender, religiosity) or cognitive-affective factors predicted the amount of sex therapy experience gained during graduate school. This suggests that training programs may be largely responsible for the (limited) amount of sex education and training received by students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of general identity disturbance on reports of lifetime substance use disorders and related outcomes among sexual minority adults with a history of substance use.

Previous research has shown that sexual minority (i.e., nonheterosexual) individuals report increased problematic substance use involvement, compared with their sexual majority counterparts. We hypothesize that feelings of an unstable sense of self (i.e., identity disturbance) may potentially drive problematic substance use. The purpose of the current study is to examine identity disturbance among sexual minorities as a potential explanatory mechanism of increased sexual minority lifetime rates of substance dependence. Measures of identity disturbance and three indicators of sexual orientation from lifetime female (n = 16,629) and male (n = 13,553) alcohol/illicit drug users in Wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) were examined. Findings generally showed that the increased prevalence of alcohol dependence, illicit drug dependence, and combined alcohol/illicit drug dependence as well as a younger age of alcohol use initiation among sexual minority women was associated with elevated levels of identity disturbance. The results were consistent with a mediational role for identity disturbance in explaining the association between sexual minority status and substance dependence and were generally replicated among male sexual minority respondents. The current research suggests that identity disturbance, a predictor of substance use, may contribute to heightened risk for substance dependence among certain subgroups of sexual minority individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The sexual harassment of uppity women.

In 3 studies, the author tested 2 competing views of sexual harassment: (a) It is motivated primarily by sexual desire and, therefore, is directed at women who meet feminine ideals, and (b) it is motivated primarily by a desire to punish gender-role deviants and, therefore, is directed at women who violate feminine ideals. Study 1 included male and female college students (N = 175) and showed that women with relatively masculine personalities (e.g., assertive, dominant, and independent) experienced the most sexual harassment. Study 2 (N = 134) showed that this effect was not because women with relatively masculine personalities were more likely than others to negatively evaluate potentially harassing scenarios. Study 3 included male and female employees at 5 organizations (N = 238) and showed that women in male-dominated organizations were harassed more than women in female-dominated organizations, and that women in male-dominated organizations who had relatively masculine personalities were sexually harassed the most. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex on the Internet: Furthering Our Understanding of Men With Online Sexual Problems.

A survey on the MSNBC Web site identified 384 men as having online sexual problems (OSP). Respondents' reasons for online sexual activity (OSA) and their preferred Internet medium were associated with several online and offline consequences and behaviors, including important aspects of real-time relationships and sexual experimentation. Two broad behavior patterns manifested by men with OSP were identified: Men who use the Internet (a) to further their real-time sex lives and (b) as a substitute for their real-time sex lives. Men who facilitate their offline sex lives with the Internet might do so for any number of reasons, many of which are adaptive (e.g., sex education, to purchase sexual materials). Future research should use samples from a variety of affinity Web portals to further examine the factors that differentiate individuals who show no negative effects of OSA from those who do. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transporting an evidence-based classroom management program for preschoolers with disruptive behavior problems to a school: An analysis of implementation, outcomes, and contextual variables.

The transportability of an evidence-based teacher professional development program, the Incredible Years Classroom Management Program, was evaluated. This study compared the impact of two training methods: self-administered videotape modeling (VM) and self-administered videotape modeling plus consultation (VMC) on teachers' use of classroom management strategies, reductions in disruptive behaviors, acceptability, and contextual barriers of sustaining EBIs in practice settings. Four pairs of teachers (N = 8) were randomly assigned to VM or VMC conditions in a multiple probe design. Students (1-2 per classroom; N = 13) displaying high levels of externalizing problems also participated. Statistically significant between-groups differences in teacher confidence ratings, use of positive instructional practices, and acceptability favored the VMC condition. Positive trends favoring VMC students, including clinically significant increases in social competence, were also found. Although students in both groups exhibited reductions in disruptive behaviors, significant between-groups differences related to disruptive behavior were not observed. Findings related to contextual variables (e.g., time, cost, institutional support, adaptability of the program) have implications for future adoption of this program. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional congruence in older couples coping with wives' osteoarthritis: Exacerbating effects of pain behavior.

The authors examined congruence in the negative emotions (depression, anger) of 101 female osteoarthritis patients (M age=69 years) and their caregiving husbands (M age=71 years) and the extent to which patients' pain behavior (e.g., limping, rubbing joints) exacerbated linkages between partners' negative emotions. Associations between patients' and husbands' emotions were examined within domains (e.g., depression-depression) and across domains (e.g., depression-anger) over a 6-month interval. Regression analyses revealed that patients' initial levels of depressive symptoms and anger were related to increases in their husbands' anger over time. The associations between patients' depressive symptoms and their husbands' depressive symptoms and anger were conditioned by pain behaviors. Patients who were more depressed and who engaged in high levels of pain behavior had husbands who became more depressed and angry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of ibotenic acid lesions of the nucleus accumbens on paced mating behavior in the female rat.

The present study investigated the role of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) in paced mating behavior in female rats. A sexually receptive female rat will approach and withdraw from a sexually active male, thereby controlling the timing of the receipt of sexual stimulation (e.g., mounts, intromissions, ejaculations). In this study, ibotenic acid lesions in the NAcc core increased the likelihood that a female rat would withdraw from a male rat after a mount but did not affect contact return latency or sexual receptivity. lbotenic acid lesions in the NAcc shell did not affect paced mating behavior or sexual receptivity. The results suggest that the NAcc core plays a role in suppressing withdrawal behavior in response to less intense mating stimulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)