An Event-Level Investigation of Factors Associated With Young Women's Experiences of Coerced Consensual Sex.

Little is known about instances of coerced consensual sex in which women report both that they consented to have sex and that their partner used coercive tactics (e.g., made threats) to get them to have sex when they did not want to. Yet, these experiences are frequently reported by young sexually active women. We examined the relationship between sexual victimization history and the woman's level of alcohol intoxication in the likelihood of experiencing coerced consensual sex using event-level data collected over a 1-year period from 548 young adult nonproblem drinking women who engaged in sexual activity with men. Twenty percent (n = 112) reported at least one incident of coerced consensual sex. A generalized estimating equation model revealed main effects of daily estimated blood alcohol content (eBAC) and sexual victimization severity. The more women increased their alcohol consumption above their own average and the more severe their sexual victimization history, the more likely they were to experience coerced consensual sex. Our findings highlight the fact that coercion and consent are not mutually exclusive in some situations and shed light on this important yet understudied coercive sexual experience.

Factors Influencing Labeling Nonconsensual Sex as Sexual Assault.

The current study examined the effects of physical attractiveness and sexual interest cues on men's sexual perceptions of women and whether increases in sexual perceptions of a woman would lead to decreases in labeling of subsequent nonconsensual sex as sexual assault. Two hundred thirty-three male college students (Mage = 19.17, SD = 1.22) read a vignette describing a hypothetical social interaction between a man and a woman; within the vignette, the female character's physical attractiveness (attractive vs. less attractive) and the degree to which the female character behaved interested in the male character (uninterested vs. ambiguous) were manipulated. The vignette ends with the male character physically forcing sexual intercourse with the female character. After reading the vignette, participants' labeling of the nonconsensual sex as sexual assault was addressed. Participants' perceptions of the female character's sexual interest in the male character prior to the nonconsensual sex was assessed as a dependent variable during stopping points in the vignette, prior to sexual assault. Both physical attractiveness and interest cues had a significant positive influence on men's perception of the female character as sexually interested. In addition, perceptions of sexual interest had a direct negative effect on sexual assault labeling. These results indicate that increases in physical attractiveness and interest cues increase perceptions of sexual interest, in turn decreasing the labeling of nonconsensual sex as sexual assault. This experimental research contributes to the literature on misperception of sexual interest and sexual assault labeling. These findings provide implications for intervention programs and for forensic issues related to sexual assault.

Condom-Insistence Conflict in Women's Alcohol-Involved Sexual Encounters with a New Male Partner.

First-time sexual intercourse with a new male partner, relative to other sexual encounters, is associated with heightened risk to women for contracting sexually transmitted infections. Little is known, however, about women's condom-related decision-making processes during these first-time sexual encounters. In the present study, we surveyed a community sample of 179 women aged 18-30 about their alcohol consumption, desire to use a condom, perception of their partner's desire to use a condom, condom-insistence conflict, and condom-decision abdication and use during their most recent alcohol-involved first-time sexual encounter with a new partner. With structural equation modeling we tested a cognitive mediation model with various configurations of alcohol effects on abdication and condom use (direct, indirect, moderator). A moderated mediation model fit the data best. Women experienced elevated condom-insistence conflict when they wanted to use a condom and perceived their partner did not; conflict, in turn, was associated with higher likelihood of abdication and lower likelihood of condom use. Higher alcohol intoxication attenuated the associations of desire to use a condom, and perceived partner's desire to use a condom, with conflict. Results support an alcohol myopia-conflict inhibition-reduction model and emphasize the importance of sex education programs that teach young women not only about condom-related assertiveness and the effects of alcohol, but also prepare them to respond to experiences of conflict that arise during sexual encounters.

The Effects of Sexual Victimization History, Acute Alcohol Intoxication, and Level of Consensual Sex on Responses to Sexual Assault in a Hypothetical Scenario.

Assertive resistance to sexual assault can decrease the likelihood of completed rape and its subsequent aftermath; however, this relationship may be influenced by situational characteristics. This study examined how 2 manipulated variables, level of consensual sex during an encounter and acute alcohol intoxication, along with sexual victimization history, affected women's responses to a hypothetical sexual assault scenario. Female participants were assigned to a drink condition (alcohol/control) and to a consent history condition (low/high). Path analysis found that women who were previously victimized, consumed alcohol, and who were in the high consent condition endorsed greater immobility intentions during the assault; only level of consent predicted likelihood of assertive resistance. Resistance strategies were related to subsequent responding. Results suggest that interventions should seek to decrease negative consequences by empowering women to assertively resist unwanted sexual advances.

Longitudinal Change in Women's Sexual Victimization Experiences as a Function of Alcohol Consumption and Sexual Victimization History: A Latent Transition Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Women's alcohol consumption and vulnerability to sexual victimization (SV) are linked, but findings regarding the nature and direction of the association are mixed. Some studies have found support for the self-medication hypothesis (i.e., victimized women drink more to alleviate SV-related distress); others have supported routine activity theory (i.e., drinking increases SV vulnerability). In this study, we aimed to clarify the interplay between women's prior SV, typical drinking, and SV experiences prospectively over one year. METHOD: Participants (N = 530) completed a baseline survey and weekly follow-up surveys across Months 3, 6, 9, and 12. RESULTS: Latent class analysis (LCA) suggested that women could be classified as victimized or non-victimized at each assessment month; 28% of participants were classified as victimized at one or more assessment months. Latent transition analysis (LTA) revealed that childhood sexual abuse and adult SV history each predicted greater likelihood of being victimized during the year. Typical drinking during a given assessment month was associated with (1) greater likelihood of victimized status at that assessment month and (2) greater likelihood of having transitioned into (or remained in) the victimized status since the previous assessment month. Furthermore, victimized status at a given assessment month predicted a higher quantity of subsequent drinking. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate a reciprocal relationship between typical drinking and SV, supporting both the self-medication hypothesis and routine activity theory, and suggesting that hazardous drinking levels may be one important target for both SV vulnerability reduction and interventions for women who have been sexually victimized.

Partner Type, Sexual Double Standard Endorsement, and Ambivalence Predict Abdication and Unprotected Sex Intentions in a Community Sample of Young Women.

In-the-moment ambivalence about having sex may influence sexual decisions but has rarely been examined. We investigated how ambivalence about sex might be related to intentions to abdicate sexual decisions to a male partner and to engage in unprotected sex in a community sample of young women. Predictors of abdication and unprotected sex intentions included partner type (new casual versus previous relationship), sexual double standard (SDS) endorsement, and two types of ambivalence. After completing a SDS endorsement measure, women (N = 360) projected themselves into a hypothetical sexual situation and completed dependent measures. In the new casual partner condition, SDS endorsement indirectly negatively predicted unprotected sex intentions through its associations with ambivalence and abdication. In both partner conditions SDS endorsement positively predicted abdication, which then positively predicted unprotected sex intentions. Ambivalence indirectly predicted unprotected sex intentions through its negative association with abdication intentions. Results suggest the importance of ambivalence for sexual decisions and the complexity of understanding the sexual decision making processes for women who endorse the SDS.

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.

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.

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.

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.

College women's sexual decision making: cognitive mediation of alcohol expectancy effects.

OBJECTIVE: Alcohol has been linked to a variety of risky sexual practices, including inconsistent condom use. Due to the high rates of alcohol consumption among underage college women, greater understanding of the role of alcohol in young women's sexual decision making is warranted. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Female underage (18- to 20-year-old) social drinkers (N = 94) participated in an experiment in which they projected themselves into a written hypothetical sexual situation with a new partner. One half of the situations portrayed alcohol consumption; one half did not involve alcohol consumption. Their appraisals of the situation's sexual potential, impelling and inhibiting cognitions, and sexual behavior intentions were assessed. RESULTS: Results revealed that alcohol's expectancy effects on young women's unprotected sexual intentions were mediated by their cognitive appraisals of the situation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that alcohol expectancies and their influence on women's sexual decisions should be incorporated into sexual risk reduction efforts.

Effects of relationship motivation, partner familiarity, and alcohol on women's risky sexual decision making.

This experiment examined the effects of women's relationship motivation, partner familiarity, and alcohol consumption on sexual decision making. Women completed an individual difference measure of relationship motivation and then were randomly assigned to partner familiarity condition (low, high) and to alcohol consumption condition (high dose, low dose, no alcohol, placebo). Then women read and projected themselves into a scenario of a sexual encounter. Relationship motivation and partner familiarity interacted with intoxication to influence primary appraisals of relationship potential. Participants' primary and secondary relationship appraisals mediated the effects of women's relationship motivation, partner familiarity, and intoxication on condom negotiation, sexual decision abdication, and unprotected sex intentions. These findings support a cognitive mediation model of women's sexual decision making and identify how individual and situational factors interact to shape alcohol's influences on cognitive appraisals that lead to risky sexual decisions. This knowledge can inform empirically based risky sex interventions.

Influences of sexual sensation seeking, alcohol consumption, and sexual arousal on women's behavioral intentions related to having unprotected sex.

This experimental study examined effects of alcohol consumption and sexual sensation seeking on unprotected sex intentions, taking into account sexual arousal, indirectly discouraging sex, and condom insistence. Women (N = 173; mean age = 25.02) were randomly assigned to a control, placebo, low-dose beverage (target blood alcohol level = .04), or high- dose beverage (target blood alcohol level = .08) condition. Participants projected themselves into a hypothetical sexual interaction with a man in which no condom was available. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that both sexual sensation seeking and alcohol dose directly increased sexual arousal early in the interaction, but later sexual arousal indirectly increased unprotected sex intentions by decreasing endorsement of indirect discouragement and, in turn, condom insistence. These findings help to clarify the role of alcohol consumption and sensation seeking in women's sexual decision making and point to the importance of examining it as a multistage process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Cognitive mediation of alcohol's effects on women's in-the-moment sexual decision making.

OBJECTIVE: To test a cognitive mediation model examining whether cognitive appraisals mediate alcohol consumption effects on condom request and unprotected sex intentions. DESIGN: Female social drinkers (N = 173) participated in an experiment comparing four beverage conditions: control, placebo, target BAL = .04%, and target BAL = .08%. Subjects projected themselves into a hypothetical sexual encounter with a new sex partner. MEASURES: Appraisals of the situation's sexual potential, impelling and inhibiting cognitions, and behavioral intentions were assessed at several points. RESULTS: Findings support the theoretical model, indicating that alcohol's effects on direct condom request and unprotected sex intentions were mediated through cognitive appraisals. CONCLUSION: Prevention interventions should include information about alcohol's effects on cognitions that may lead to ineffective condom negotiation and unprotected sex.

Women's condom use assertiveness and sexual risk-taking: effects of alcohol intoxication and adult victimization.

This experiment examined relationships among adulthood victimization, sexual assertiveness, alcohol intoxication, and sexual risk-taking in female social drinkers (N=161). Women completed measures of sexual assault and intimate partner violence history and sexual assertiveness before random assignment to 1 of 4 beverage conditions: control, placebo, low dose (.04%), or high dose (.08%). After drinking, women read a second-person story involving a sexual encounter with a new partner. As protagonist of the story, each woman rated her likelihood of condom insistence and unprotected sex. Victimization history and self-reported sexual assertiveness were negatively related. The less sexually assertive a woman was, the less she intended to insist on condom use, regardless of intoxication. By reducing the perceived health consequences of unprotected sex, intoxication indirectly decreased condom insistence and increased unprotected sex. Findings extend previous work by elucidating possible mechanisms of the relationship between alcohol and unprotected sex - perceived health consequences and situational condom insistence - and support the value of sexual assertiveness training to enhance condom insistence, especially since the latter relationship was robust to intoxication.

A comparison of men who committed different types of sexual assault in a community sample.

This study extends past research by examining predictors of different types of sexual assault perpetration in a community sample. Computer-assisted self-interviews were conducted with a representative sample of 163 men in one large urban community. As hypothesized, many variables that are significant predictors of sexual assault perpetration in college student samples were also significant predictors in this sample, including empathy, adult attachment, attitudes about casual sex, sexual dominance, alcohol consumption in sexual situations, and peer approval of forced sex. For most measures, the strongest differences were between nonassaulters and men who committed acts that met standard legal definitions of rape. Men who committed forced sexual contact and verbal coercion tended to have scores that fell in between those of the other two groups. The implications of these findings are discussed for community-based sexual assault prevention programs.

Why do some men misperceive women's sexual intentions more frequently than others do? An application of the confluence model.

Although many researchers have documented men's tendency to misperceive women's friendliness as a sign of sexual interest, few have examined individual differences in men's attitudes and past experiences that might predict their likelihood of making these types of misjudgments. We applied an expanded version of Malamuth, Sockloskie, Koss, and Tanaka's (1991) Confluence model to predict frequency of misperception of women's sexual intent with a sample of 356 male college students. Using structural equation modeling, hostile masculinity, impersonal sex, and drinking in dating and sexual situations predicted men's frequency of misperception. Furthermore, the more risk factors men possessed, the more times they misperceived women's sexual intentions. Suggestions are made for theory development and future research incorporating situational as well as personality measures in longitudinal studies.

Women's responses to sexual aggression: the effects of childhood trauma, alcohol, and prior relationship.

This study examined effects of alcohol consumption (control, moderate dose, high dose) and type of relationship (new, established) on women's responses to escalating male sexual aggression. The role of childhood trauma was also examined. After consuming a beverage, participants (N=220) projected themselves into a story portraying a social interaction with a man that depicted escalating sexual aggression. The story was paused 3 times to assess assertive, polite, and passive resistance as well as consent. Alcohol consumption increased consent and interacted with type of relationship to increase passive resistance and with level of sexual aggression to increase polite resistance. Assertive resistance increased and other responses decreased as the man's sexual aggression escalated. Childhood trauma lowered consent initially and increased passive resistance when rape was threatened.

Understanding alcohol expectancy effects: revisiting the placebo condition.

This article summarizes a symposium organized and cochaired by Maria Testa and presented at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, in Santa Barbara, California. The symposium explored issues relevant to understanding the function of placebo conditions and to interpreting placebo effects. Cochair Mark Fillmore began with an overview of the use of placebo conditions in alcohol research, focusing on methodological issues. Jeanette Norris and her colleagues conducted a review of studies examining placebo conditions among women. They conclude that expectancy effects are limited to a few domains. Maria Testa and Antonia Abbey presented papers suggesting that placebo manipulations may result in unanticipated compensatory effects in actual or hypothetical social situations. That is, placebo participants may compensate for anticipated cognitive impairment through vigilant attention to situational cues. John Curtin's research suggests that the compensatory strategies of placebo participants appear to involve a sensitization of evaluative control, resulting in improved performance. Kenneth Leonard provided concluding remarks on the meaning of placebo effects and the value of placebo conditions in research.

Cross-Sectional Predictors of Sexual Assault Perpetration in a Community Sample of Single African American and Caucasian Men.

Computer-assisted self-interviews were completed with a random sample of 163 unmarried Caucasian and African American men in a large metropolitan area. Almost a quarter (24.5%) of these men acknowledged committing an act since the age of 14 that met standard legal definitions of attempted or completed rape; an additional 39% had committed another type of sexual assault involving forced sexual contact or verbal coercion. An expanded version of the Malamuth et al. [1991] confluence model was examined using path analysis. The number of sexual assaults perpetrated by participants was associated with the direct or indirect effects of childhood sexual abuse, adolescent delinquency, alcohol problems, sexual dominance, positive attitudes about casual sexual relationships, and pressure from peers to engage in sexual relationships. Additionally, empathy buffered the relationship between sexual dominance and perpetration. The pattern of results was highly similar for African American and Caucasian men. The implications of these findings for sexual assault measurement are discussed and suggestions are made for alternative treatment programs.