%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 J Sex Res %D 2014 %T Women's unprotected sex intentions: roles of sexual victimization, intoxication, and partner perception. %A Masters, N Tatiana %A George, William H %A Davis, Kelly Cue %A Norris, Jeanette %A Heiman, Julia R %A Jacques-Tiura, Angela J %A Gilmore, Amanda K %A Nguyen, Hong V %A Kajumulo, Kelly F %A Otto, Jacqueline M %A Stappenbeck, Cynthia A %K Adult %K Adult Survivors of Child Abuse %K Alcoholic Intoxication %K Child %K Female %K Humans %K Intention %K Sex Offenses %K Social Perception %K Unsafe Sex %K Young Adult %X

Sexually victimized women may make sexual decisions differently than nonvictimized women. This study used an eroticized scenario and laboratory alcohol administration to investigate the roles of victimization history, intoxication, and relationship context in women's perceptions of a male partner and their subsequent intentions for unprotected sex. A community sample of 436 women completed childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and adolescent/adult sexual assault (ASA) measures. After random assignment to an alcohol or control condition, participants read and projected themselves into a sexual scenario that depicted the male partner as having high or low potential for a lasting relationship. Participants rated their perceptions of his intoxication, sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk level, and anticipated reactions to insistence on condom use. They then indicated their likelihood of allowing the partner to decide how far to go sexually (abdication) and of engaging in unprotected sex. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses revealed that intoxication predicted greater unprotected sex likelihood indirectly via abdication. CSA and ASA predicted partner perceptions, which in turn predicted unprotected sex likelihood. These findings indicate that, compared to their nonvictimized counterparts, sexually victimized women may respond differently in sexual encounters partly as a function of their perceptions of partners' STI risk and anticipated reactions to condom insistence.

%B J Sex Res %V 51 %P 586-98 %8 2014 %G eng %N 5 %R 10.1080/00224499.2012.763086 %0 Journal Article %J Addiction %D 2012 %T Co-occurrence of sexual risk behaviors and substance use across emerging adulthood: evidence for state- and trait-level associations. %A King, Kevin M %A Nguyen, Hong V %A Kosterman, Rick %A Bailey, Jennifer A %A Hawkins, J D %K Adult %K Alcohol-Related Disorders %K Female %K Humans %K Male %K Risk-Taking %K Substance-Related Disorders %K Time Factors %K Unsafe Sex %K Young Adult %X

AIMS:   Prior research has suggested that problematic alcohol and drug use are related to risky sexual behaviors, either due to trait-level associations driven by shared risk factors such as sensation seeking or by state-specific effects, such as the direct effects of substance use on sexual behaviors. Although the prevalence of both high-risk sexual activity and alcohol problems decline with age, little is known about how the associations between substance use disorder symptoms and high-risk sexual behaviors change across young adulthood.

DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS:   Using a community sample (n = 790) interviewed every 3 years from age 21 to age 30 years, we tested trait- and state-level associations among symptoms of alcohol and drug abuse and dependence and high-risk sexual behaviors across young adulthood using latent growth curve models.

MEASUREMENTS:   We utilized diagnostic interviews to obtain self-report of past-year drug and alcohol abuse and dependence symptoms. High-risk sexual behaviors were assessed with a composite of four self-reported behaviors.

FINDINGS:   Results showed time-specific associations between alcohol disorder symptoms and risky sexual behaviors (r = 0.195, P < 0.001), but not associations between their trajectories of change. Conversely, risky sexual behaviors and drug disorder symptoms were associated only at the trait level, not the state level, such that the levels and rate of change over time of both were correlated (r = 0.35, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS:   High-risk sexual behaviors during young adulthood seem to be driven both by trait and state factors, and intervention efforts may be successful if they are either aimed at high-risk individuals or if they work to disaggregate alcohol use from risky sexual activities.

%B Addiction %V 107 %P 1288-96 %8 2012 Jul %G eng %N 7 %R 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03792.x