%0 Journal Article %J Arch Sex Behav %D 2014 %T Sexual victimization, alcohol intoxication, sexual-emotional responding, and sexual risk in heavy episodic drinking women. %A George, William H %A Davis, Kelly Cue %A Masters, N Tatiana %A Jacques-Tiura, Angela J %A Heiman, Julia R %A Norris, Jeanette %A Gilmore, Amanda K %A Nguyen, Hong V %A Kajumulo, Kelly F %A Otto, Jacqueline M %A Andrasik, Michele P %K Adult %K Alcoholic Intoxication %K Child %K Child Abuse, Sexual %K Crime Victims %K Ethanol %K Female %K HIV Infections %K Humans %K Libido %K Rape %K Risk %K Risk-Taking %K Sexual Behavior %K Unsafe Sex %K Young Adult %X

This study used an experimental paradigm to investigate the roles of sexual victimization history and alcohol intoxication in young women's sexual-emotional responding and sexual risk taking. A nonclinical community sample of 436 young women, with both an instance of heavy episodic drinking and some HIV/STI risk exposure in the past year, completed childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and adolescent/adult sexual assault (ASA) measures. A majority of them reported CSA and/or ASA, including rape and attempted rape. After random assignment to a high alcohol dose (.10 %) or control condition, participants read and projected themselves into an eroticized scenario of a sexual encounter involving a new partner. As the story protagonist, each participant rated her positive mood and her sexual arousal, sensation, and desire, and then indicated her likelihood of engaging in unprotected sex. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that ASA and alcohol were directly associated with heightened risk taking, and alcohol's effects were partially mediated by positive mood and sexual desire. ASA was associated with attenuated sexual-emotional responding and resulted in diminished risk taking via this suppression. These are the first findings indicating that, compared to non-victimized counterparts, sexually victimized women respond differently in alcohol-involved sexual encounters in terms of sexual-emotional responding and risk-taking intentions. Implications include assessing victimization history and drinking among women seeking treatment for either concern, particularly women at risk for HIV, and alerting them to ways their histories and behavior may combine to exacerbate their sexual risks.

%B Arch Sex Behav %V 43 %P 645-58 %8 2014 May %G eng %N 4 %R 10.1007/s10508-013-0143-8 %0 Journal Article %J Arch Sex Behav %D 2013 %T Influences of situational factors and alcohol expectancies on sexual desire and arousal among heavy-episodic drinking women: acute alcohol intoxication and condom availability. %A Gilmore, Amanda K %A George, William H %A Nguyen, Hong V %A Heiman, Julia R %A Davis, Kelly Cue %A Norris, Jeanette %K Adult %K Alcoholic Intoxication %K Arousal %K Binge Drinking %K Condoms %K Decision Making %K Ethanol %K Female %K Humans %K Libido %K Sexual Behavior %K Social Environment %K Unsafe Sex %X

Although studies suggest that alcohol increases women's sexual desire, no studies to our knowledge have examined the effects of acute alcohol intoxication on women's sexual desire. The majority of research examining alcohol's effects on sexual arousal in women suggests that alcohol increases self-reported arousal. In an alcohol administration study in which women projected themselves into an eroticized scenario depicting a consensual sexual encounter with a new male partner, we examined the effects of alcohol and condom condition on women's sexual desire and arousal. The moderating effects of sex-related alcohol expectancies were also examined. Results revealed that alcohol intoxication was related to less desire to engage in sex with a new partner and condom presence was related to more desire. Alcohol interacted with sexual disinhibition alcohol expectancies, indicating that more expectancy endorsement was associated with greater sexual desire and self-reported arousal in the alcohol condition, but not the control condition. Condom condition had no effect on self-reported sexual arousal. The present research suggests that sexual desire merits research attention in non-clinical samples, and experimental methodology can provide valuable information about alcohol's influence on women's sexual desire, thus advancing our understanding of this relationship beyond cross-sectional correlations. The current findings also provide evidence that sex-related alcohol expectancies may play an important role in alcohol-involved sexual experiences including desire and arousal.

%B Arch Sex Behav %V 42 %P 949-59 %8 2013 Aug %G eng %N 6 %R 10.1007/s10508-013-0109-x %0 Journal Article %J Horm Behav %D 2011 %T Women's sexual arousal: effects of high alcohol dosages and self-control instructions. %A George, William H %A Davis, Kelly Cue %A Heiman, Julia R %A Norris, Jeanette %A Stoner, Susan A %A Schacht, Rebecca L %A Hendershot, Christian S %A Kajumulo, Kelly F %K Adult %K Alcohol Drinking %K Arousal %K Dose-Response Relationship, Drug %K Erotica %K Ethanol %K Female %K Humans %K Internal-External Control %K Libido %K Sexuality %K Vagina %K Young Adult %X

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.

%B Horm Behav %V 59 %P 730-8 %8 2011 May %G eng %N 5 %R 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.03.006 %0 Journal Article %J J Sex Med %D 2010 %T Assessing women's sexual arousal in the context of sexual assault history and acute alcohol intoxication. %A Gilmore, Amanda K %A Schacht, Rebecca L %A George, William H %A Otto, Jacqueline M %A Davis, Kelly Cue %A Heiman, Julia R %A Norris, Jeanette %A Kajumulo, Kelly F %K Alcoholic Intoxication %K Arousal %K Child %K Child Abuse, Sexual %K Erotica %K Ethanol %K Female %K Humans %K Libido %K Photoplethysmography %K Rape %K Reference Values %K Regional Blood Flow %K Vagina %X

INTRODUCTION: Few studies have examined differences in women's sexual arousal based on sexual assault history (SAH) or in-the-moment alcohol intoxication. Only one has examined combined effects. Findings regarding the relationship between SAH and arousal are contradictory.

AIM: We aimed to determine the relationship between SAH, alcohol intoxication, and sexual arousal.

METHODS: Women were randomly assigned to an alcohol (target blood alcohol level = 0.10%) or control condition and categorized as having an SAH or not. After beverage administration, all women watched erotic films while genital arousal (vaginal pulse amplitude; VPA) was measured. Afterward, self-reported sexual arousal was measured.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Genital response was measured by VPA using vaginal photoplethysmography while watching erotic films. Self-reported sexual arousal was assessed after watching erotic films.

RESULTS: Women with an SAH had smaller increases in genital arousal in response to the films than women without an SAH. Intoxicated women had smaller increases in genital arousal than sober women. However, no differences for SAH or intoxication were found in self-reported arousal.

CONCLUSION: SAH and alcohol intoxication are associated with smaller increases in genital arousal compared to women without an SAH and sober women, suggesting that these co-occurring factors impact sexual arousal.

%B J Sex Med %V 7 %P 2112-9 %8 2010 Jun %G eng %N 6 %R 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2010.01786.x