Since 1989, I have been continuously funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to study the multiple links between alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors. This work has drawn on existing motivation theories to develop and test models delineating the nature of specific motives underlying alcohol use and risky sex, and specifying the unique causes and consequences of engaging in these behaviors to meet different needs. In this revised application, I seek five years of support from NIMH under the Career Development Award program to develop the skills and expertise I need to launch a new program of research ultimately aimed at developing and testing a more realistic and comprehensive model of human sexual behavior and sexual risk-taking. This research would extend my past work on the largely intrapersonal, motivational determinants of risky sexual behavior by attending more fully to the interpersonal and situational/contextual factors that shape human sexual experience and sexual risk-taking. Thus, although will continue to stress the motivational themes that give meaning and direction to people's sexual behavior, will extend this perspective by examining (via the use of diary studies conducted with couples and high risk individuals) how these themes are played out in the context of people's daily lives and relationships, and how these processes ultimately contribute to longer term adjustment. To accomplish this overarching goal, I will pursue four inter-related aims: (1) to complete a coordinated set of training activities (including forma coursework, workshops, directed reading, and consultation and collaboration with a team of well-respected researchers and methodologists) aimed at increasing my substantive and theoretical command of specific content areas and methodologies needed to pursue this work; (2) to conduct secondary data analysis of two existing data sets and prepare a series of papers based on these analyses in conjunction with the team of collaborators; (3) to write an R01 application that synthesizes the significant concepts and models developed during the focused research and training experiences outlined above; and in the final years of the K award, (4) to implement the funded research whose aim will be to put these ideas to test in a more methodologically rigorous manner and in larger and more representative samples than the existing data sets allow. It is my hope and belief that this investment will pay rich dividends in terms of increased theoretical and methodological contributions to the field, including both those of my own and my collaborators. ? ?
