Alcohol, Relationships and Risk: Women and HIV

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议研究的目标是通过描述酒精影响性风险降低行为技能的机制来减少妇女的艾滋病毒感染。在与男性发生性关系的女性中，性冒险行为的比例仍然很高。调查研究表明，年轻妇女不擅长艾滋病毒风险评估和减少性行为风险的行为，而饮酒可能进一步损害这些技能。尽管先前的研究提供了有关酒精与性冒险行为之间关系的有价值的信息，但在社会交往中涉及实际行为反应的实验研究却很少。拟议的研究采用创新的实验方法，以调查酒精对妇女艾滋病毒风险评估的影响，以及在现场社交互动中协商使用避孕套的行为技能。提出的研究的理论基础是性决策的认知中介模型（Norris, Masters, & Zawacki, 2004），酒精近视理论（Taylor & Leonard, 1983）和酒精期望理论（MacAndrew & Edgerton, 1969）。醉酒的参与者和特征的社会互动被操纵在一系列的3个拟议的实验室实验。社会互动的操纵特征反映了与妇女有关的性决策的各个方面。每个实验过程都将被录像和编码，以评估参与者在社会互动中的行为。依赖自我报告的措施将评估最近开发的认知中介模型的结构，以便测试其在解释与酒精有关的性冒险行为方面的效用。在实验方案之前，参与者的关系动机和酒精预期将被评估为酒精对参与者风险评估、谈判行为和认知模型变量影响的潜在调节因子。这些研究范例旨在模拟HIV风险评估和安全性行为谈判通常发生的真实情况。研究结果可用于制定预防计划，减少女性在饮酒时的性风险。这些结果将为针对与男性发生性行为的年轻女性的预防项目提供最有价值的信息，这些女性群体在性行为风险方面的负面后果（如艾滋病毒传播）风险很大。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of the proposed research is to reduce women's HIV infection by delineating the mechanisms through which alcohol affects sex risk reduction behavioral skills. Rates of sexual risk taking behavior remain high among women who have sex with men. Survey research suggests that young women are not skilled at HIV risk appraisal and behaviors that reduce sex risk, and alcohol consumption may further impair these skills. Although previous studies have contributed valuable information about alcohol's relationship to sexual risk taking, there is a paucity of experimental research involving actual behavioral responses during social interactions. The proposed research utilizes innovative experimental methods in order to investigate alcohol's effects on women's HIV risk appraisal and behavioral skills at negotiating condom use during live social interactions. The theoretical underpinnings of the proposed research are the Cognitive Mediation Model of Sexual Decision Making (Norris, Masters, & Zawacki, 2004), Alcohol Myopia Theory (Taylor & Leonard, 1983), and Alcohol Expectancy Theory (MacAndrew & Edgerton, 1969). Intoxication of participants and characteristics social interactions are manipulated in a series of 3 proposed laboratory experiments. Manipulated characteristics of the social interactions reflect aspects of sexual decision making relevant to women. Each laboratory session will be videotaped and coded in order to assess participants' behavior during the social interactions. Self-report dependent measures will assess constructs of a recently developed Cognitive Mediation Model so that its utility in explaining alcohol-involved sexual risk taking can be tested. Prior to the experimental protocol, participants' relationship motivation and alcohol expectancies will be assessed as a potential moderator of alcohol's effects on participants' risk appraisal, negotiation behavior, and cognitive model variables. The study paradigms were designed to simulate real situations in which HIV risk appraisal and safer-sex negotiations commonly occur. The results can be used to develop prevention programs that reduce women's sexual risk taking when drinking. These results will be most informative for prevention programs targeting young women who have sex with men, who are a group at significant risk for negative outcomes of sexual risk taking such as HIV transmission.