The link between alcohol use and aggression toward sexual minorities: An event-based analysis.

The current study used an event-based assessment approach to examine the day-to-day relationship between heterosexual men's alcohol consumption and perpetration of aggression toward sexual minorities. Participants were 199 heterosexual drinking men between the ages of 18–30 who completed (1) separate timeline followback interviews to assess alcohol use and aggression toward sexual minorities during the past year, and (2) written self-report measures of risk factors for aggression toward sexual minorities. Results indicated that aggression toward sexual minorities was twice as likely on a day when drinking was reported than on nondrinking days, with over 80% of alcohol-related aggressive acts perpetrated within the group context. Patterns of alcohol use (i.e., number of drinking days, mean drinks per drinking day, number of heavy drinking days) were not associated with perpetration after controlling for demographic variables and pertinent risk factors. Results suggest that it is the acute effects of alcohol, and not men's patterns of alcohol consumption, that facilitate aggression toward sexual minorities. More importantly, these data are the first to support an event-based link between alcohol use and aggression toward sexual minorities (or any minority group), and provide the impetus for future research to examine risk factors and mechanisms for intoxicated aggression toward sexual minorities and other stigmatized groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining Masculinity Norms, Problem Drinking, and Athletic Involvement as Predictors of Sexual Aggression in College Men.

Male sexual aggression toward women is a serious social problem, particularly on college campuses. In this study, college men's sexually aggressive behavior and rape myth acceptance were examined using conformity to 11 masculine norms and 2 variables previously linked to sexual aggression: problem drinking and athletic involvement. Results indicated that men who use alcohol problematically and conform to specific masculine norms (i.e., having power over women, being a playboy, disdaining gay men, being dominant, being violent, and taking risks) tended to endorse rape myths and report sexually aggressive behavior. Additionally, men who reported higher levels of problematic alcohol use and risk taking were more likely to report sexually aggressive behavior without endorsing rape myths. Implications and recommendations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex-related alcohol expectancies among adolescents: II. Prediction of drinking in social and sexual situations.

Used a measure developed by K. H. Dermen and M. L. Cooper (see record 1995-07934-001) to test the relationship between sex-related alcohol expectancies and drinking in social and sexual situations among a representative sample of 874 sexually experienced adolescents (aged 13–19 yrs) who had ever consumed alcohol. Regression analyses (in which demographics and a global measure of drinking were controlled for) revealed that sex-related alcohol expectancies were better predictors of drinking in sexual situations than were general alcohol expectancies, whereas the reverse was true for drinking in social situations. Different expectancies predicted whether respondents drank in these situations as compared with the frequency of drinking to intoxication in the same situations. Results highlight the value of assessing domain-specific alcohol expectancies when predicting alcohol use in particular situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 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)     

"Measuring university students’ self-efficacy to use drinking self-control strategies": Correction to Bonar et al. (2011).

Reports an error in "Measuring university students' self-efficacy to use drinking self-control strategies" by E. E. Bonar, et al. (Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 2011[Mar], Vol 25[1], 155-161). There is an error in Table 3. Item 8 in the table should have read: “Start off with at least 1 nonalcoholic drink before you start drinking alcohol.” (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2011-05934-004.) Using a Web-based, self-administered questionnaire, we assessed 498 university-student drinkers' self-efficacy to use 31 different behavioral strategies to reduce excessive drinking in each of three different locations (bar, party, own dorm/apartment). Averaging all 31 items within each drinking situation to create a single scale score revealed high internal consistency reliabilities and moderate inter-item correlations. Testing the association of self-efficacy with drinking location, sex, and frequency of recent binge drinking, we found that respondents reported higher self-efficacy to use these strategies when drinking in their own dorm/apartment than when drinking in bars and at parties; women reported higher mean self-efficacy than men; and drinkers who engaged in 3-or-more binges in the previous 2 weeks reported lower self-efficacy than those who reported either 0 or 1-or-2 binges in the same time period. This questionnaire could be used to identify self-efficacy deficits among clients with drinking problems and as an outcome measure to assess the degree to which interventions influence reported confidence to use specific drinking-reduction strategies in high-risk drinking situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors influencing the temporal relationship between alcohol consumption and experiences with aggression among college women.

The authors assessed temporal relationships among alcohol use, aggression, and mood using daily data from 179 college women. Participants called an interactive voice response system over an 8-week period. The odds of experiencing verbal, sexual, and physical aggression (odd ratios = 2.25, 19.44, and 11.84, respectively) were significantly higher on heavy drinking days (M = 7.46 drinks) compared to nondrinking days. Both a history of victimization and greater psychological symptom severity influenced the odds of involvement in verbal aggression. The odds of alcohol consumption were 3 times higher during the 24 hr following verbal aggression compared with days in which verbal aggression did not occur. On the day immediately following involvement in either verbal or physical aggression, positive mood decreased and negative mood increased. During the week (2-7 days) following sexual aggression, women's positive mood was decreased. These findings reinforce the need for interventions aimed at reducing heavy episodic drinking on college campuses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interactive effects of alcohol outcome expectancies and alcohol cues on nonconsumptive behavior.

Experimental research and popular belief suggest that, among its many effects, alcohol consumption reduces tension and facilitates aggression. Such observations could result from direct, pharmacological effects of alcohol on neural control of behavior but also may be accounted for by positing that drinking behavior activates mental representations of relaxation-related or aggression-related alcohol expectancies in long-term memory. Building on this latter view, in 2 experiments, the authors investigated whether rudimentary drinking-related cues, which presumably activate encoded alcohol expectancies, facilitate tension reduction and hostility in the complete absence of actual or placebo alcohol consumption. In Experiment 1, following contextual exposure to alcohol-related words, individuals with stronger expectancies that drinking reduces tension showed an increased willingness to meet with an opposite-gender stranger under relatively anxiety-provoking circumstances, suggesting that they experienced less apprehension regarding the meeting. Analogously, in Experiment 2, following near-subliminal exposure to alcohol-related words, individuals with stronger expectancies that drinking fosters aggression showed greater hostility toward a target person following an experimentally engineered provocation. Neither of the latter effects was obtained following exposure to nonalcoholic beverage words, which presumably did not activate alcohol outcome expectancy representations in long-term memory. Moreover, the strength of relevant, content-specific expectancies (i.e., for tension reduction or aggression, respectively) moderated alcohol cue exposure effects, but the strength of other expectancies (e.g., for sociability or sexual arousal) did not. Together, these findings demonstrate that exposure to rudimentary alcohol cues independently engenders expectancy-consistent behavior, thereby attesting to the remarkable breadth and subtlety of the behavioral impact of alcohol expectancy activation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of drinking protective behavioral strategies in association to sex-related alcohol negative consequences: The mediating role of alcohol consumption.

Alcohol use has been implicated as a risk factor for sexual negative consequences, such as unprotected sexual intercourse. The present research was conducted to examine the relationship between drinking protective behavioral strategies and consensual sex-related alcohol negative consequences, and whether this relationship varied by gender. Additionally, typical number of drinks during sexual behavior was evaluated as a potential mediator of this association. Heavy drinking, sexually active college students (N = 297, 50.2% women) completed self-report measures of drinking protective behavioral strategies, alcohol consumption, and sex-related alcohol negative consequences. Findings indicated that women who used drinking protective behavioral strategies more frequently were less likely to experience sex-related alcohol negative consequences whereas this relationship was not significant for men. For women, this relationship was mediated by the typical number of drinks consumed during sexual behavior. The current research demonstrates that use of drinking protective behavioral strategies is related to a reduction in women's sex-related risks when drinking. Findings are discussed in terms of alcohol myopia theory. Implications for interventions aimed to reduce higher risk sexual behavior among college students are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heavy drinking occasions and the occurrence of sexual activity.

With the advent of the AIDS epidemic, research on the relationship of drinking to sexual activity takes on increased importance. Although several studies have investigated the characteristics of sexual encounters that do and do not involve alcohol, few studies have examined drinking incidents that may or may not result in sexual activity. Respondents (N?=?1,110) in 3 surveys were asked about the circumstances of a recent heavy drinking occasion. Approximately one third of the Ss reported having sex during this maximum consumption episode, and the likelihood of having sex was a significant positive linear function of the amount of alcohol consumed. Ss who drank more heavily in the episode were slightly more likely to have sex with a new or casual partner. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of alcohol on aggression in male social drinkers.

Assigned 96 male undergraduates to 1 of 8 groups in a 2 * 2 * 2 factorial design. To control fully for expectation effects, 48 Ss were led to believe that they would be drinking alcohol (vodka and tonic), and 48 believed they would be drinking only tonic water. Within each of these 2 groups, 24 Ss actually received alcohol, but 24 were given only tonic. Following the beverage administration, 48 Ss were provoked to aggress by exposing them to an insulting confederate, whereas control Ss experienced a neutral interaction. Aggression was assessed by the intensity and duration of shocks administered to the confederate on a modified version of A. H. Buss's aggression apparatus. The only significant determinant of aggression was the expectation factor: Ss who believed they had consumed alcohol were more aggressive than Ss who believed they had consumed a nonalcoholic beverage, regardless of the actual alcohol content of the drinks. Ss receiving alcohol, however, showed a significant increase in a reaction time measure, regardless of the expectation condition. Provocation to aggress was also a significant determinant of aggression, but it did not interact with the beverage conditions. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prospective associations among alcohol use-related sexual enhancement expectancies, sex after alcohol use, and casual sex.

Higher levels of alcohol use have consistently been related to higher rates of sexual risk taking; however, it is not clear whether this relationship is causal. This study examined the concurrent and predictive associations among alcohol use-related sexual enhancement expectancies, drinking alcohol before engaging in sex, and casual sex during the transition into emerging adulthood and whether these associations differed for men and women. Data came from 590 men and women who were interviewed 3 times at 6-month intervals after high school. Growth curve analyses indicated that alcohol-related sexual enhancement expectancies were related to casual sex indirectly through drinking before sex but did not predict change in either of these behaviors. However, increases in drinking before sex predicted increases in casual sex over time. The findings provide some support for prevention programs that focus on alcohol-related sexual expectancies to reduce sexually transmitted illnesses among emerging adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol use and intimate partner violence perpetration among college students: Assessing the temporal association using electronic diary technology.

Objectives: The primary goals of this study were to assess the temporal relationship between alcohol use and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration using state-of-the-art electronic diary assessment methods and to examine the extent to which distal factors (e.g., sex, psychopathology, relationship satisfaction) moderated that association. Method: Participants were 184 male and female college students in dating relationships who used a handheld computer to answer daily questions about alcohol use and IPV every day for 2 months. Results: Based on a total of 7,775 daily electronic diary reports, results showed that the odds of perpetrating psychological and physical aggression were 2.19 and 3.64 times greater, respectively, on drinking days relative to nondrinking days. Men evidenced 7.03 greater odds of engaging in psychological aggression on drinking days, whereas women had only 1.60 greater odds of engaging in psychological aggression on drinking relative to nondrinking days. Conclusion: Findings suggest the need to provide intervention early in dating relationships to reduce alcohol use to reduce the risk of IPV. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drinking habits and expectancies about alcohol's effects for self versus others.

Administered an alcohol effects questionnaire and a measure of drinking practices to 150 college students. Ss consistently expected alcohol to affect other people more than themselves for both positive effects such as social or sexual pleasure and negative effects such as impairment, except that moderate and heavy drinkers expected as much social/physical pleasure from alcohol as they expected others to receive. Moderate and heavy drinkers expected alcohol to enhance their own social and sexual pleasure, aggression, and tension reduction more than did light drinkers but did not differ in expected aversive consequences, suggesting that differences in anticipated reinforcement are more salient than anticipated impairment in influencing drinking behavior. Women expected less pleasure and tension reduction and more cognitive and motor impairment from alcohol but did not differ from men in expected enhancement of sexual pleasure, aggression, or expressiveness when differences in drinking habits were statistically controlled. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual arousal in response to aggression: Ideological, aggressive, and sexual correlates.

In Exp I, 37 male and 42 female undergraduates reported more sexual arousal in response to nonaggressive than to aggressive depictions when the portrayals were sexually explicit, but the opposite occurred when the portrayals were nonsexual. In Exp II, 367 males were classified into no arousal, moderate arousal, or high arousal from force (AFF) groups on the basis of self-reports. To evaluate the veridicality of this classification, 118 Ss' penile tumescence in response to various depictions was assessed. Findings generally replicate those of the Exp I and confirm the accuracy of the AFF classification. The no- and the moderate-AFF Ss were less sexually aroused by aggressive than by nonaggressive portrayals, but the opposite was found for the high-AFF group. Strong differences between AFF groups were found on ideological factors, including acceptance of violence against and dominance over women, acceptance of nonsexual aggression, and Ss' beliefs that they might actually use force against women. In contrast, differences were not found on sexuality factors. Implications for theories on the causes of rape are discussed. (64 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol abuse in clients presenting with marital problems.

84 women and 56 men seeking marital therapy were assessed for alcohol abuse, current marital disagreements about alcohol abuse, and reported interspousal aggression. More than one-third of the men in the sample met the criterion for alcoholism on a standard alcoholism screening interview, one-fifth of the men self-reported drinking at unsafe levels, and more than four-fifths of the Ss reported marital disagreements about alcohol abuse at least "frequently." 69% of respondents reported the occurrence of physical aggression in their relationship. Reported alcohol problems were associated with more severe marital distress, more steps being taken toward divorce, and greater male aggression. Results suggest that routine screening of marital therapy clients for alcohol abuse is needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acculturation, sexual behavior, and alcohol use among Latinas

We explored the relationship of alcohol use to unsafe sex in Latinas. Telephone interviews were conducted with 523 currently sexually active Latinas aged 18-49 years. Only 7.5% of these women used alcohol half of the time or more prior to sex. "Regular" alcohol users had more sexual partners, but also had more experience with condom use, used condoms with primary partners as frequently as nonusers of alcohol, and used condoms more with secondary partners. While Latinas who use alcohol prior to sex more often have multiple sexual partners, alcohol use does not appear to interfere with condom use.     

The occurrence of partner physical aggression on days of alcohol consumption: A longitudinal diary study.

The likelihood of partner physical aggression on days of male partners' alcohol consumption, during a 15-month period, was examined for men entering a domestic violence treatment program (n=137) and domestically violent men entering an alcoholism treatment program (n=135). For men entering the domestic violence treatment program (alcoholism treatment program odds in parentheses), the odds of any male-to-female physical aggression were more than 8 times (11 times) higher on days when men drank than on days of no alcohol consumption. The odds of severe male-to-female physical aggression were more than 11 times (11 times) higher on days of men's drinking than on days of no drinking. These findings support the proximal effect model of alcohol use and partner violence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual Versus Nonsexual Workplace Aggression and Victims' Overall Job Satisfaction: A Meta-Analysis.

A meta-analytic approach was used to examine whether sexual and nonsexual forms of nonviolent workplace aggression (both verbal and nonverbal) share equivalent or differential relationships with victims' overall job satisfaction. When the meta-analytic comparison was restricted to all-female samples to hold victims' gender constant, nonsexual aggression was found to share a significantly stronger negative relationship with victims' overall job satisfaction than was sexual aggression. In addition, nonsexual aggression was found to share a stronger negative link with women's level of job satisfaction than with men's. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol consumption and sexual activity as reported with a diary technique.

Although alcohol is commonly viewed as a sexual disinhibitor, recent research has suggested that alcohol consumption does not consistently lead to increased sexual activity. Nonexperimental work in this area has commonly used correlational procedures that do not control for individual difference variables that may contribute to a drinking–sex relationship. This study examined the relationship of alcohol consumption to sexual behavior by way of within-Ss analyses of data from 99 men and women who kept daily diaries of drinking and sexual events over a 10-wk period. Alcohol consumption was associated with a general attenuation of sexual activity, with no effects on the occurrence of sexual behaviors that are risky in terms of AIDS transmission. These data suggest that sexual disinhibition and lapses in sexual judgment are not necessarily common consequences of alcohol consumption. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol-related and alcohol-free activity participation and enjoyment among college students: A behavioral theories of choice analysis.

College student alcohol abuse remains a significant public health problem, and there is a need for theory-driven and empirically based models to guide prevention efforts. Behavioral theories of choice assume that the decision to consume alcohol is influenced by the relative value of alcohol versus other available activities. In the present study, a sample of college student drinkers (N=108; 56% female, 44% male) who had previously completed a mandatory alcohol intervention completed a measure of alcohol-related and alcohol-free activity participation and enjoyment. The goals of the study were to examine the influence of drinking quantity and contextual variables on activity enjoyment and to identify enjoyable alcohol-free activities that take place on evenings when students might otherwise be drinking. Overall, students found alcohol-related activities more enjoyable than alcohol-free activities, and drinking quantity was positively related to enjoyment. However, alcohol-free activities such as watching movies, going to the theater or museums, going to bars or parties, hanging out with friends, eating at restaurants, and engaging in creative activity were generally as enjoyable as drinking. Alcohol-free activities that included peers or dates were more enjoyable than solitary activities. Men were less likely to engage in alcohol-free activities that included peers and reported less enjoyment related to alcohol-free activities than did women. Further research is required to identify procedures for increasing participation in alcohol-free activities and to determine whether increased alcohol-free activity participation results in decreased alcohol consumption. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)