Indirect Effects of Acute Alcohol Intoxication on Sexual Risk-Taking: The Roles of Subjective and Physiological Sexual Arousal

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https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10508-008-9346-9

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-008-9346-9
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/18760

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UMBC Psychology Department

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Date

2008-04-23

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journal articles postprints
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Citation of Original Publication

George, W. H., Davis, K. C., Norris, J., Heiman, J. R., Stoner, S. A., Schacht, R. L., Hendershot, C. S., & Kajumulo, K. F. (2009). Indirect effects of acute alcohol intoxication on sexual risk-taking: The roles of subjective and physiological sexual arousal. Archives of sexual behavior, 38(4), 498–513. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-008-9346-9

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This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Archives of sexual behavior. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10508-008-9346-9.

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Abstract

Three experiments supported the idea that alcohol fosters sexual risk-taking in men and women, in part, through its effects on sexual arousal. In Experiment 1, increasing alcohol dosage (target blood alcohol levels of .00, .04, .08%) heightened men’s and women’s risk-taking intentions. Alcohol’s effect was indirect via increased subjective sexual arousal; also, men exhibited greater risk-taking than women. In Experiment 2, an extended dosage range (target blood alcohol levels of .00, .06, .08, .10%) heightened men’s risk-taking intentions. Alcohol’s effect again was indirect via subjective arousal. Physiological sexual arousal, which was unaffected by alcohol, increased risk-taking via increased subjective arousal. In Experiment 3, alcohol increased women’s risk-taking indirectly via subjective arousal, but alcohol-attenuated physiological arousal had no effect on risk-taking. Implications for alcohol myopia theory and prevention interventions are discussed.