The proposed F31 represents a first step in a research trajectory focused on the complex relationships between gender, sexuality and substance use/abuse. Specifically, this project is designed to examine women's use of alcohol prior to sexual activity to discern the motivations for use and the negative consequences of this combination, especially for HIV and other sexual risks. The proposed project will utilize a mixed-method design in a sample of young adult women (ages 18-29) who frequent NYC clubs to appropriately address the following specific aims:
Aim #1 : To examine individual predictors of and factors associated with the use of alcohol prior to sexual activity;
Aim #2 : To examine the various consequences (unprotected sex, non-consensual sex, negative psychological impacts) of the combination of alcohol and sex;
Aim #3 : To explicate the moderating role of context in the relationship between alcohol consumption and sexual behavior, especially risky sexual behavior;
Aim #4 : To understand the role of gendered sexual norms in the relationship between alcohol consumption and sexual behavior;
Aim #5 : To examine the role of associating alcohol with sex in determining overall drinking patterns, especially problem drinking behaviors. To address these aims, this project will utilize both qualitative and quantitative data from 100 young women (ages 18-29). Specifically, the current project measures several psychological, psychosocial, and demographic variables, as well as detailed narratives relating women's most recent experiences of sexual activity while sober and while under the influence of alcohol, including information about the context in which the behavior occurred and the sexual risk involved in the situation. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixedmethod analyses will be used to answer the research questions that follow from these specific aims. This study will begin to fill key gaps in both the HIV prevention and alcohol use/abuse literatures in explicating the factors that influence sexual risk as well as sexual factors that may precipitate alcohol abuse among women, an often neglected group in both literatures. Critical knowledge generated about the social, individual, and contextual risk factors for sexual risk and alcohol abuse among women will inform future research and set the stage for future prevention and intervention efforts. ? ? ?
