Personality and cognitive factors influencing substance use and sexual risk for HIV infection among gay and bisexual men.

Substance use reliably predicts sexual risk behavior, and sensation-seeking personality characteristics have been found to covary with these associations. In a study of 289 gay and bisexual men attending a large gay pride event, the authors examined the role of substance use sexual outcome expectancies in explaining associations between sensation seeking, substance use, and risky sex. Consistent with previous research, alcohol and other drugs were associated with sexual behavior. However, path analyses showed that sensation seeking accounted for variance in sexual behavior over and above substance use before sex and that sensation seeking predicted substance use expectancies that in turn predicted substance use before sex. It was concluded that altering substance use outcome expectancies may be an important strategy for HIV risk reduction for individuals high in sensation seeking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sensation seeking, alcohol use, and sexual behaviors among sexually transmitted infection clinic patients in Cape Town, South Africa.

Alcohol use is associated with risks for HIV/AIDS. The association between alcohol and sexual risk may be accounted for by sensation seeking personality. However, sensation seeking in relation to substance use and HIV risk has not been examined in Africa. In this study, 292 men and 219 women receiving sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnostic and treatment services in Cape Town, South Africa, completed anonymous behavioral surveys. Structural modeling was used to test a model of alcohol use and sensation seeking in relation to sexual risk behaviors. Results showed that sensation seeking and alcohol use in sexual contexts were related to HIV risks, controlling for gender and marital status. The association between sensation seeking and HIV risk was partly accounted for by alcohol use in proximity to sex. In contrast to studies conducted in the United States, sensation seeking was not related to alcohol-sex outcome expectancies. These findings suggest that alcohol use is an important HIV transmission risk factor for many STI clinic patients and that interventions for individuals who are characterized as sensation seekers are urgently needed in South Africa. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol use, expectancies, and sexual sensation seeking as correlates of HIV risk behavior in heterosexual young adults.

Most theoretical models of HIV risk behavior have not considered the role of personality factors, and few studies have examined mechanisms accounting for dispositional influences on sexual risk taking. This study elaborated on a conceptual model emphasizing sexual sensation seeking, alcohol expectancies, and drinking before sex as key predictors of HIV risk (S. C. Kalichman, L. Tannenbaum, & D. Nachimson, 1998). Multiple groups structural equation modeling was used to determine whether gender moderated relationships among these variables in a sample of 611 heterosexual, young adult drinkers (49% women, 76% Caucasian, mean age = 25 years). The model provided an excellent fit to the data, and gender differences were not substantiated. Sexual sensation seeking predicted HIV risk directly as well as indirectly via sex-related alcohol expectancies and drinking in sexual contexts. Findings suggest that expectancies and drinking before sex represent proximal mechanisms through which dispositional factors influence sexual risk outcomes. Moreover, these relationships appear to be similar in men and women. Interventions could benefit from targeting alcohol expectancies and drinking before sex in individuals with a dispositional tendency toward sexual risk taking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory activation and expectancy as prospective predictors of alcohol and marijuana use.

This study examined whether indicators of drug-related memory associations predicted drug use prospectively. The predictive effects of outcome expectancies, sensation seeking, and other variables also were investigated. The results revealed that the memory association measures significantly predicted subsequent drug use. Outcome expectancies and sensation seeking predicted alcohol use, but not marijuana use. The findings suggest 2 possibly different aspects of cognition involved in drug use motivation: (a) a memory activation or implicit cognition component, representing the effects of memory associations that are prompted relatively spontaneously by the prevailing motivational and situational circumstances and (b) an outcome expectancy component, which is more likely to reflect explicit cognitions involved in introspection and deliberate decision-making processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-regulation as a protective factor against risky drinking and sexual behavior.

Prior research suggests that high dispositional self-regulation leads to decreased levels of risky drinking and sexual behavior in adolescence and the early years of college. Self-regulation may be especially important when individuals have easy access to alcohol and freedom to pursue sexual opportunities. In the current 1-year longitudinal study, we followed a sample of N = 1,136 college students who had recently reached the legal age to purchase alcohol and enter bars and clubs to test whether self-regulation protected against heavy episodic drinking, alcohol-related problems, and unprotected sex. We tested main effects of self-regulation and interactions among self-regulation and established risk factors (e.g., sensation seeking) on risky drinking and sexual behavior. High self-regulation inversely predicted heavy episodic drinking, alcohol-related problems, and unprotected sex, even when taking into account gender and risk factors. Moreover, in predicting unprotected sex, we found three-way interactions among self-regulation, sensation seeking, and heavy episodic drinking. Self-regulation buffered against risk associated with heavy drinking but only among those low in sensation seeking. The protective effects of self-regulation for risky drinking and sexual behavior make it a promising target for intervention, with the caveat that self-regulation may be less protective among those who are more drawn to socially and emotionally rewarding stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual sensation seeking: scale development and predicting AIDS-risk behavior among homosexually active men

Sensation seeking, the propensity to prefer exciting, optimal, and novel stimulation or arousal, is a potential mediating factor in sexual risk for human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV), the cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). However, the most widely used measure of sensation seeking, the Sensation Seeking Scale (Zuckerman, Kolin, Price, & Zoob, 1964), contains numerous culturally outdated items and items that do not pertain to sexual behavior. In this study, 106 homosexually active men completed newly developed measures of sensation seeking related to sexual and nonsexual experiences, as well as a measure of sexual compulsivity. Results show that the new scales were internally consistent and time-stable. Additional analyses demonstrated convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity for these scales, showing them to be of use as mediating variables in models of high-risk sexual behavior. Implications for HIV prevention and behavior change are discussed.     

Associations of marijuana use and sex-related marijuana expectancies with HIV/STD risk behavior in high-risk adolescents.

Multiple studies suggest an association of marijuana use with increased rates of sexual risk behavior and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Most studies have focused on global associations of marijuana use with sexual risk outcomes and few have examined relevant cognitive variables. Adolescents in the juvenile justice system are at elevated risk for HIV/STDs and preliminary evidence suggests that marijuana is a potentially important cofactor for sexual risk behavior in this population. This study evaluated global, situational and event-level associations of marijuana use and sex-related marijuana expectancies with sexual risk outcomes in a large, racially diverse sample of adjudicated youth (n = 656, 66% male, mean age = 16.7 years). Cross-sectional and prospective analyses identified associations of marijuana use and dependence symptoms with sexual risk outcomes, including lower frequency of condom use and higher STD incidence. Stronger sex-related marijuana expectancies predicted greater intentions for and frequency of marijuana use in sexual situations. In event-level analyses that controlled for alcohol, marijuana use predicted a significantly decreased likelihood of condom use; this association was moderated by sex-related marijuana expectancies. Mediation analyses suggested that behavioral intentions partly accounted for the prospective association of expectancies with marijuana use before sex. These results provide further evidence that marijuana use is a potentially important cofactor for HIV/STD transmission in high-risk adolescents and suggest that cognitive factors could be important for characterizing this association. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drug abuse patterns, personality characteristics, and relationships with sex, race, and sensation seeking.

Examined interrelationships among sex, race, drug use patterns, and personality variables in 84 chronic users of illicit drugs (mean age 24.3 yrs). Ss were administered the MMPI, the Sensation Seeking Scale, and the Shipley-Institute of Living Scale for Measuring Intellectual Impairment and were interviewed using the Background Information Questionnaire. Comparisons were made between sex and ethnic subgroups on personality and drug use variables using analysis of covariance and chi-square procedures for Ss classified into high-, medium-, and low-sensation-seeking groups. Blacks were characterized by lower levels of sensation seeking, less psychopathology, use of fewer drug categories, and later drug use than Whites. Use and personality patterns among women differed little from those of men. Levels of sensation seeking were related to specific personality constellations, number of drug categories used, and motive for first alcohol use. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parallel developmental trajectories of sensation seeking and regular substance use in adolescents.

This study applied piecewise latent growth modeling to longitudinal survey data from 2 different samples of adolescents (N=1,002 and N=1,206) to examine the hypothesis that development of sensation seeking in middle school would predict development of substance use (cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana) in middle school and high school. Results showed that sensation seeking had strong predictive value for both concurrent and distal marijuana and alcohol use in both samples; however, initial level of sensation seeking predicted initial level of cigarette use during high school in 1 sample only. White participants scored consistently higher on both initial level and rate of increase in sensation seeking than did participants of other ethnicities. Advantages of this methodology are discussed in the context of substance use research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex-related alcohol expectancies among adolescents: II. Prediction of drinking in social and sexual situations.

Used a measure developed by K. H. Dermen and M. L. Cooper (see record 1995-07934-001) to test the relationship between sex-related alcohol expectancies and drinking in social and sexual situations among a representative sample of 874 sexually experienced adolescents (aged 13–19 yrs) who had ever consumed alcohol. Regression analyses (in which demographics and a global measure of drinking were controlled for) revealed that sex-related alcohol expectancies were better predictors of drinking in sexual situations than were general alcohol expectancies, whereas the reverse was true for drinking in social situations. Different expectancies predicted whether respondents drank in these situations as compared with the frequency of drinking to intoxication in the same situations. Results highlight the value of assessing domain-specific alcohol expectancies when predicting alcohol use in particular situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Collegiate heavy drinking prospectively predicts change in sensation seeking and impulsivity.

Recent models of alcohol use in youth and young adulthood have incorporated personality change and maturation as causal factors underlying variability in developmental changes in heavy drinking. Whereas these models assume that personality affects alcohol use, the current prospective study tested the converse relation. That is, we tested whether, after accounting for the effect of traits on drinking, collegiate heavy drinking in turn predicted individual differences in change in alcohol-related aspects of personality. We also examined whether affiliation with heavy-drinking peers better accounted for this relation. Following a cohort of recent high school graduates (N = 1,434) through the college years, we found evidence for transactional relations between heavy drinking and changes in impulsivity and sensation seeking. Both traits predicted increases in heavy drinking, but more important, heavy drinking predicted increases in sensation seeking and impulsivity. In final models, social influences did not underlie the effect of heavy drinking on increases in sensation seeking and impulsivity. The results of this investigation suggest that collegiate heavy drinking may negatively and pervasively impact a wide range of behaviors because of its effect on personality change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A confirmatory test of hierarchical expectancy structure and predictive power: Discriminant validation of the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire.

Although a hierarchical structure of alcohol expectancies has been hypothesized, until recently confirmatory methods for testing such a model have been unavailable. Using concurrent data from 446 young adults entering college for the first time, this study applied new hierarchical models for confirmatory factor analysis to the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire. Then, using prospective drinking data from 428 participants, it evaluated the contribution of both common (higher order) and unique (first-order) expectancy variance to the prediction of alcohol use 1 year later. Results supported the hierarchical structure of alcohol expectancies and indicated that associated common and unique variance reliably predicted alcohol use. One uniqueness (social-physical pleasure) outpredicted the common variance. The theoretical (process) implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prospective associations among alcohol use-related sexual enhancement expectancies, sex after alcohol use, and casual sex.

Higher levels of alcohol use have consistently been related to higher rates of sexual risk taking; however, it is not clear whether this relationship is causal. This study examined the concurrent and predictive associations among alcohol use-related sexual enhancement expectancies, drinking alcohol before engaging in sex, and casual sex during the transition into emerging adulthood and whether these associations differed for men and women. Data came from 590 men and women who were interviewed 3 times at 6-month intervals after high school. Growth curve analyses indicated that alcohol-related sexual enhancement expectancies were related to casual sex indirectly through drinking before sex but did not predict change in either of these behaviors. However, increases in drinking before sex predicted increases in casual sex over time. The findings provide some support for prevention programs that focus on alcohol-related sexual expectancies to reduce sexually transmitted illnesses among emerging adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An affective-motivational model of marijuana and alcohol problems among college students.

The study examined models of marijuana (n = 309) and alcohol (n = 731) problems. Impulsivity was directly associated with both marijuana- and alcohol-related problems. Negative mood regulation expectancies were indirectly associated with marijuana problems through coping motives. Sensation seeking was indirectly associated with alcohol problems through enhancement motives. Affect lability and negative affect were indirectly associated with alcohol problems though coping motives. In both models, coping motives were directly associated with use-related problems. A multigroup analysis indicated that the association between negative affect and coping motives as well as use and problems was stronger among participants using both alcohol and marijuana relative to alcohol only. Enhancement motives were a stronger predictor of alcohol use among participants using alcohol only. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol-related expectancies predict quantity and frequency of heavy drinking among college students.

Alcohol-related expectancies covary consistently with consumption patterns; limited research also suggests that expectancies can predict future drinking behavior. However, the ability of expectancies to predict high-risk drinking has not been evaluated among college students. Participants were 140 undergraduates who completed an alcohol use assessment at 2 points in time, separated by. 1 month. Using multiple regression analyses, the author determined that alcohol-related expectancies accounted for a small but significant percentage of variance in each of 2 alcohol consumption variables. Global positive expectancies predicted maximum daily quantity, and sexual enhancement expectancies predicted the frequency of intoxication, even when controlling for baseline levels of both variables. These findings support alcohol abuse prevention efforts designed to modify cognitive expectancies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Turning on or turning off: Sensation seeking or tension reduction as motivational determinants of alcohol use.

Assessed the relative influences of sensation-seeking or tension-reduction motives on drinking behavior with 242 undergraduates who completed the Sensation Seeking Scale, the S-R Inventory of General Trait Anxiousness, and a self-report index of drinking behavior. Using correlational and multiple regression procedures, the data consistently indicated a strong positive relationship between sensation seeking and alcohol use, whereas the relationship between anxiety and alcohol use was nonsignificant. The importance of sensation-seeking motives to a comprehensive motivational theory of alcohol is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social environmental selection as a mediator of gender, ethnic, and personality effects on college student drinking.

Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediational role of social environmental selection on alcohol use in cross-sectional samples of 447 students from a rural state university and 421 students from an urban private university. Results showed that male gender, White ethnicity, and sensation seeking were uniquely associated with greater alcohol use. Mediational analyses indicated that socioenvironmental factors (i.e., Greek involvement, friends' approval of drinking/getting drunk) were positively associated with alcohol use and significantly accounted for parts of the effects of ethnicity and sensation seeking, but not gender, on alcohol use. Results suggest that White students and those high on sensation seeking may drink more heavily in college, in part because they select social environments in which alcohol use is encouraged. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk factors for elementary school drinking: Pubertal status, personality, and alcohol expectancies concurrently predict fifth grade alcohol consumption.

Little is known about the correlates and potential causes of very early drinking. The authors proposed this risk theory: (a) pubertal onset is associated with increased levels of positive urgency (the tendency to act rashly when experiencing intensely positive mood), negative urgency (the tendency to act rashly when distressed), and sensation seeking; (b) those traits predict increased endorsement of high-risk alcohol expectancies; (c) the expectancies predict drinker status among fifth graders; and (d) the apparent influence of positive urgency, negative urgency, and sensation seeking on drinker status is mediated by alcohol expectancies. The authors conducted a concurrent test of whether the relationships among these variables were consistent with the theory in a sample of 1,843 fifth grade students. In a well-fitting structural model, their hypotheses were supported. Drinker status among fifth graders is not just a function of context and factors external to children: it is predictable from a combination of pubertal status, personality characteristics, and learned alcohol expectancies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)