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Event-Level Associations Among Drinking Motives, Alcohol Consumption, and Condomless Anal Sex in a Sample of Young Men Who Have Sex With Men

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Abstract

Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) are at increased risk for HIV and problematic alcohol use. Drinking motives are associated with alcohol use in cross-sectional studies, but their associations with alcohol use and condomless anal sex (CAS) at the event-level remain unclear. The current study examined these event-level associations in a sample of 189 YMSM who completed self-report measures on a daily or weekly basis for two months. Participants were recruited between August 2014 and April 2015 for a randomized trial designed to study behavioral reactivity in diary studies. YMSM consumed more alcohol on days when they drank to cope, to enhance pleasure, or to be more social. CAS with casual partners was more likely on days when they consumed more alcohol. Drinking motives were not associated with CAS. Interventions may benefit from addressing drinking motives and the influence of alcohol use on CAS in different types of relationships.

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Acknowledgements

Data collection for this study was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (1R03DA035704-01; PI: Newcomb). Brian A. Feinstein’s time was also supported by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (1F32DA042708-01). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. We thank all of the participants for their contributions to this study.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (1R03DA035704-01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 625 N Michigan Ave, Suite 2700, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Brian A. Feinstein & Michael E. Newcomb

  2. Northwestern University Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing, Chicago, IL, USA

    Brian A. Feinstein & Michael E. Newcomb

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  1. Brian A. Feinstein
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Correspondence to Brian A. Feinstein.

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Conflict of interest

Brian A. Feinstein declares that he has no conflict of interest. Michael E. Newcomb declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Feinstein, B.A., Newcomb, M.E. Event-Level Associations Among Drinking Motives, Alcohol Consumption, and Condomless Anal Sex in a Sample of Young Men Who Have Sex With Men. AIDS Behav 21, 1904–1913 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1734-5

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