Influences of acute alcohol consumption, sexual precedence, and relationship motivation on women's relationship and sex appraisals and unprotected sex intentions.

Guided by the cognitive mediation model of sexual decision making (Norris, Masters, & Zawacki, 2004. Cognitive mediation of women's sexual decision making: The influence of alcohol, contextual factors, and background variables. Annual Review of Sex Research, 15, 258-296), we examined female social drinkers' (N = 162) in-the-moment risky sexual decision making by testing how individual differences (relationship motivation) and situational factors (alcohol consumption and sexual precedence conditions) influenced cognitive appraisals and sexual outcomes in a hypothetical sexual scenario. In a path model, acute intoxication, sexual precedence, and relationship motivation interactively predicted primary relationship appraisals and independently predicted primary sex appraisals. Primary appraisals predicted secondary appraisals related to relationship and unprotected sex, which predicted unprotected sex intentions. Sexual precedence directly increased unprotected sex intentions. Findings support the cognitive mediation model and suggest that sexual risk reduction interventions should address alcohol, relationship, sexual, and cognitive factors.

The role of farmers' markets in two low income, urban communities.

UNLABELLED: To collect consumer demographics, utilization, satisfaction, and eating and physical activity behavior information from customers using two newly established farmers' markets in low income urban communities in East and South Los Angeles. From April 1, 2007 through June 3, 2009, farmers' market customers completed a short, anonymous survey. The data analysis included a descriptive analysis of key variables and examined the number of new and repeat customers over time to track the rate of farmers' market use over time. SETTING: The East Los Angeles Farmers' Market and the Watts Healthy Farmers' Market. SUBJECTS: 415 farmers' market customers from East Los Angeles and 1,374 from South Los Angeles. The demographic profile of farmers' market consumers were primarily Latina women earning less than $22,000 per year with less than 12 years of education who reported some level of food insecurity. Most customers lived within 4 miles of the markets with repeat customers shopping twice a month or more. Overall, customers reported high satisfaction with the farmers' markets in each community and the majority reported positive changes in physical activity and eating behaviors since using the market. Many consumers reported they wanted to see additional items sold at the market, including prepared foods, non-food items and other products not allowed to be sold at certified farmers' markets.

Root-associated ectomycorrhizal fungi shared by various boreal forest seedlings naturally regenerating after a fire in interior alaska and correlation of different fungi with host growth responses.

The role of common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) in postfire boreal forest successional trajectories is unknown. We investigated this issue by sampling a 50-m by 40-m area of naturally regenerating black spruce (Picea mariana), trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides), and paper birch (Betula papyrifera) seedlings at various distances from alder (Alnus viridis subsp. crispa), a nitrogen-fixing shrub, 5 years after wildfire in an Alaskan interior boreal forest. Shoot biomasses and stem diameters of 4-year-old seedlings were recorded, and the fungal community associated with ectomycorrhizal (ECM) root tips from each seedling was profiled using molecular techniques. We found distinct assemblages of fungi associated with alder compared with those associated with the other tree species, making the formation of CMNs between them unlikely. However, among the spruce, aspen, and birch seedlings, there were many shared fungi (including members of the Pezoloma ericae [Hymenoscyphus ericae] species aggregate, Thelephora terrestris, and Russula spp.), raising the possibility that these regenerating seedlings may form interspecies CMNs. Distance between samples did not influence how similar ECM root tip-associated fungal communities were, and of the fungal groups identified, only one of them was more likely to be shared between seedlings that were closer together, suggesting that the majority of fungi surveyed did not have a clumped distribution across the small scale of this study. The presence of some fungal ribotypes was associated with larger or smaller seedlings, suggesting that these fungi may play a role in the promotion or inhibition of seedling growth. The fungal ribotypes associated with larger seedlings were different between spruce, aspen, and birch, suggesting differential impacts of some host-fungus combinations. One may speculate that wildfire-induced shifts in a given soil fungal community could result in variation in the growth response of different plant species after fire and a shift in regenerating vegetation.

Attitudes of genetic counselors towards genetic susceptibility testing in children.

Genetic susceptibility research and testing is leading to an era of personalized medicine. Genetic counselors act as liaisons between the medical genetics community and the public. Understanding the opinions of genetic counselors will be important in developing testing guidelines. Attitudes towards genetic susceptibility testing in children were assessed for 216 NSGC members. Genetic counselors were likely to support testing if the results would determine: disease progression or prognosis, likelihood of survival after a specific treatment, or risk for an adverse drug reaction. Genetic counselors were unlikely to support testing to determine susceptibility to later disease development or in the absence of available intervention. There was a strong positive correlation between attitudes associated with desire to test their own child, if at risk and their support for genetic testing in any child at risk. Respondents strongly favored parent/guardian and child's rights over doctor or insurance rights. They indicated assent should be obtained prior to testing, when appropriate, and that a copy of results should be kept in a permanent medical record. Respondents expressed concerns about insurance discrimination, testing in the absence of medical necessity, and taking away a child's autonomy.

Patterns of alcohol use and expectancies predict sexual risk taking among non-problem drinking women.

OBJECTIVE: Although alcohol consumption and sexual risk taking are associated, not everyone who drinks alcohol engages in risky sexual behavior. The purposes of the present study were to identify patterns of alcohol use behaviors and alcohol expectancies among women who are non-problem drinkers and to examine how these patterns are associated with indices of sexual risk. METHOD: Data from 758 non-problem drinking women who have sex with men and were not in committed relationships were analyzed using latent profile analysis to determine patterns of alcohol use and alcohol-related expectancies. RESULTS: Of the four patterns observed, three classes had similar alcohol-related expectancies but differed with respect to drinking behavior (moderate drinking, regular heavy episodes, and frequent heavy episodes), and the fourth class consisted of moderate drinkers with low expectancies (low expectancies). Results revealed that those in the frequent heavy episodes class had the greatest number of sexual partners in the past year and drank the most alcohol before having sex compared with the other women. Both the regular and frequent heavy episodes classes reported greater likelihood of having unprotected sex in the future, more positive beliefs about casual sex, and greater subjective intoxication before having sex than women in the moderate drinking or low expectancies classes. Women in the low expectancies class reported less positive beliefs about condoms than those in the moderate drinking and regular heavy episodes classes. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that different patterns of expectancies and drinking behaviors are associated with different indices of sexual risk taking and highlight the importance of individually tailored programs for prevention of sexually transmitted infections.

How Do Alcohol and Relationship Type Affect Women's Risk Judgment of Partners with Differing Risk Histories?

Understanding how women judge male partners' sexual risk is important to developing risk reduction programs. Applying a cognitive mediation model of sexual decision making, our study investigated effects of alcohol consumption (control, low dose, high dose) and relationship type (disrupted vs. new) on women's risk judgments of a male sexual partner in three sexual risk conditions (low, unknown, high). After random assignment to an experimental condition, 328 participants projected themselves into a story depicting a sexual interaction. The story was paused to assess primary appraisals of sexual and relationship potential and secondary appraisals of pleasure, health, and relationship concerns, followed by sexual risk judgments. In all risk conditions, alcohol and disrupted relationship increased sexual potential whereas disrupted relationship increased relationship potential in the low- and high-risk conditions. In the unknown-risk condition, women in the no-alcohol, new relationship condition had the lowest primary sexual appraisals. In all conditions, sexual appraisals predicted all secondary appraisals, but primary relationship appraisals predicted only secondary relationship appraisals. Secondary health appraisals led to increased risk judgments whereas relationship appraisals predicted lower risk judgments. Possible intervention points include helping women to re-evaluate their safety beliefs about past partners, as well as to develop behavioral strategies for decreasing hazardous drinking.

Men's alcohol intoxication and condom use during sexual assault perpetration.

We assessed the association between alcohol consumption and condom use during penetrative sexual assault acts perpetrated by young adult men. Men aged 21 to 35 who reported inconsistent condom use and heavy episodic drinking (N = 225) completed a questionnaire assessing their perpetration of sexual assault since the age of 15, their consumption of alcohol prior to these acts, and their use of condoms during acts involving penetration. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's chi-square tests were used to examine the simultaneous use of alcohol and condom nonuse during penetrative sexual assault acts. More than one third of respondents reported perpetrating at least one penetrative sexual assault 35.6% (n = 79). Condoms were not used in 70.0% of penetrative sexual assaults. When they had consumed alcohol, perpetrators were significantly less likely to use condoms. The sexual assaults reported by this sample typically consisted of perpetrator alcohol consumption and the nonuse of condoms. Programs targeting sexual health and assault risk reduction would be enhanced by addressing this interplay of alcohol, violence, and risk.

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Acute Alcohol Effects on Men's Sexual Aggression Intentions.

OBJECTIVE: Although research has established childhood sexual abuse (CSA) as a risk factor for men's perpetration of sexual aggression, there has been little investigation of the factors undergirding this association. This study represents one of the first to use a laboratory-based sexual aggression analogue coupled with an alcohol administration protocol to investigate the pathways through which CSA and alcohol influence men's self-reported sexual aggression intentions. METHOD: After completing background questionnaires, male social drinkers (N = 220) were randomly assigned to a control, placebo, low alcohol dose or high alcohol dose condition. Following beverage consumption, participants read a sexual scenario in which the female partner refused to have unprotected sexual intercourse, after which they completed dependent measures. RESULTS: Path analysis indicated that men with a CSA history and intoxicated men perceived the female character as more sexually aroused and reported stronger sexual entitlement cognitions, both of which were in turn associated with greater condom use resistance and higher sexual aggression intentions. Exploratory analyses revealed that intoxication moderated the effects of CSA history on sexual entitlement cognitions, such that sexual entitlement cognitions were highest for men who had a CSA history and consumed alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that CSA history may facilitate sexual assault perpetration through its effects on in-the-moment cognitions, and that these effects may be exacerbated by alcohol intoxication.

The effects of acute alcohol intoxication, partner risk level, and general intention to have unprotected sex on women's sexual decision making with a new partner.

Women account for a quarter of all new HIV/AIDS cases, with approximately 65% having contracted the infection via heterosexual contact. Few experimental studies have examined interactions among background, partner, and situational characteristics in predicting women's sexual decisions. The Cognitive Mediation Model provides a useful theoretical framework for assessing likelihood of unprotected sex. Female social drinkers (n = 230) who had answered questions related to their general intention to have unprotected sex were randomly assigned to an experimental condition based on partner risk level (unknown, low, high) and beverage (control, placebo, low dose, high dose). Participants projected themselves into a story depicting a sexual situation with a man and answered questions about their cognitive appraisals, assertive condom request, and likelihood of unprotected sex. Alcohol effects on appraisal of sexual potential differed by partner risk condition. In the unknown and low risk conditions, placebo and alcohol participants appraised the situation as having greater sexual potential than controls whereas in the high risk condition, only those who consumed alcohol did so. Sexual potential appraisals in turn predicted impelling cognitions about having sex, which in turn predicted assertive condom request and unprotected sex intentions. General intention for unprotected sex independently predicted cognitive appraisals and outcomes. These findings highlight the need for prevention programs that focus on teaching women how to pay attention and consider sexual risk cues presented by potential partners, particularly when under the influence of alcohol.

A multicultural approach to HIV prevention within a residential chemical dependency treatment program: the Positive Steps Program.

Positive Steps is a six month residential program in southeastern Los Angeles County. The program seeks to assist residents in recovery from chemical dependency and to prevent sexual and other risk factors which promote HIV transmission. Positive Steps serves a multicultural population of women and transgender male to female. Program participants are allowed to bring up to two children with them in residence. Motivational interviewing serves as the foundation for chemical dependency treatment and HIV transmission risk reduction. Positive Steps also provides intensive group education. Individual counseling with a licensed mental health professional is provided for HIV Positive residents. External evaluation of the program involves a comprehensive assessment at baseline, six months post-baseline, and follow up. Program outcomes include statistically significant reductions in substance use, sexual risk behaviors, and symptoms of mental distress.