A Prospective Examination of Men's Condom Use Resistance: Event-Level Associations with Sexual Aggression, Alcohol Consumption, and Trait Anger

Abstract

Burgeoning research suggests that men engage in a variety of coercive and non-coercive tactics to avoid condom use (condom use resistance; CUR), suggesting a risk nexus regarding sexual risk and sexual aggression (SA). Laboratory-based research has found that acute alcohol intoxication is associated with CUR; however, no study has examined event-level associations among alcohol consumption, SA history, and CUR or the moderating effects of trait anger. Non-problem drinking young adult men who have sex with women (N = 430) completed a background survey and follow-up assessments regarding their sex events and alcohol consumption over three months. CUR was reported in 113 sex events; 6.2% of these involved SA and 40.7% involved alcohol consumption. Generalized estimating equations demonstrated that men with more severe SA histories were more likely to perpetrate CUR. Men lower in trait anger were more likely to perpetrate CUR the more they increased above their typical level of alcohol consumption, whereas men higher in trait anger were similarly likely to perpetrate CUR regardless of their alcohol consumption. Results suggest that men with greater SA histories and high trait anger are at increased risk of perpetrating CUR, and that risk of CUR increases among other men the more they increase their alcohol consumption beyond their average.

Figure 1.

The deviation in the number of standard drinks that were consumed during a given event and trait anger significantly interact to predict CUR perpetration. Note: The y-axis depicts the probability of perpetrating any form of CUR on a given day. Trait anger is graphed at +/− 2 standard deviations from the mean. Daily drinking deviation is graphed across the x-axis from two standard deviations below the mean to two standard deviations above the mean, where 0 equals the mean.