PROJECT SUMMARY
The proposed project is a competing renewal of R01AA017608, which investigated the influence of young
men's alcohol intoxication, sexual aggression perpetration history, and partner condom negotiation on their
sexual risk behavior through two alcohol administration experiments and follow-up surveys. Findings from the
original project suggest that alcohol intoxication and sexual aggression history are predictive of greater
condom use resistance and other sexual risk behaviors (e.g., unprotected sex) at both proximal and event
levels. Moreover, preliminary results suggest that emotional factors may play a role in these associations,
suggesting a promising avenue for continued research. The proposed renewal aims to build upon these
findings through investigation of the emotional mechanisms involved in young men's alcohol-related sexual risk
behavior to provide an empirical foundation for developing evidence-based sexual risk prevention programs.
The proposed project continues and extends the original line of research through multiple methods designed to
evaluate distal and proximal emotional factors implicated in alcohol-related sexual risk. Male drinkers aged 21-
30 who use condoms inconsistently (n = 600) will first complete a screening procedure followed by a baseline
survey which will assess relevant constructs including negative emotional traits, emotion dysregulation
tendencies, and alcohol expectancies. They will then complete a 30 day daily diary assessment of their daily
emotional states, daily coping motives pertaining to drinking and sex, and daily drinking and sexual risk
behaviors in order to evaluate daily relationships among these factors. Upon completion of the daily monitoring
period, the same participants will complete an in-lab experiment assessing in-the-moment effects of alcohol
intoxication and provocation on negative emotional states and sexual risk intentions. Generalized linear mixed
models will be used to examine the daily influence of emotional states and coping motives on alcohol
consumption and sexual risk behaviors. Structural equation modeling and other regression-based analyses will
be used to examine experimental effects of alcohol intoxication and provocation on negative emotional states
and other mediators, as well as sexual risk intentions. Moderating effects of negative emotional traits, emotion
dysregulation tendencies, and alcohol expectancies will also be examined for both daily and in-the-moment
processes, and the linkages between event-level and experimental relationships will be investigated. The
proposed renewal is both significant and innovative in that it will address the public health concern of men's
sexual risk behaviors including condom use resistance; will evaluate the role of emotional processes in men's
alcohol-related sexual risk; and will use multiple methods to gather complementary types of data that will
elucidate the mechanisms underlying alcohol-related sexual risk behaviors and provide an empirical evidence
base from which to develop and inform prevention and intervention programs.