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Relations Between Trait Impulsivity, Behavioral Impulsivity, Physiological Arousal, and Risky Sexual Behavior Among Young Men

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Abstract

The current study examined how impulsivity-related traits (negative urgency, sensation seeking, and positive urgency), behavioral measures of risk taking and reward seeking, and physiological reactivity related to three different risky sexual behaviors in sexually active undergraduate men (N = 135). Regression analyses indicated that sensation seeking and behavioral risk-taking predicted unique variance in number of sexual partners. These findings suggest that, for young men, acquisition of new partners is associated with need for excitement and reward and willingness to take risks to meet those needs. Sensation seeking, behavioral risk-taking, and skin conductance reactivity to arousing stimuli was related to ever having engaged in sex with a stranger, indicating that, for men, willingness to have sex with a stranger is related not only to the need for excitement and risk-taking but also with innate responsiveness to arousing environmental triggers. In contrast, regression analyses indicated that young men who were impulsive in the context of negative emotions were less likely to use condoms, suggesting that emotion-based impulsivity may be an important factor in negligent prophylactic use. This study adds to the current understanding of the divergence between the correlates of risky sexual behaviors and may lend utility to the development of individualized HIV prevention programming.

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Notes

  1. The IAPS slide numbers were as follows: pleasant—160, 226, 465, 720, 803, 808, 418, 421, 425; neutral—220, 550, 700, 702, 705, 708, 710, 716, 718; unpleasant—109, 212, 300, 310, 313, 315, 620, 623, 904

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge research support from the National Institutes on Drug Abuse (DA007304 and T32DA035200) and the National Institute of Mental Health (T32 MH18869) of the National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, 115 Kastle Hall, Lexington, KY, 40506-0044, USA

    Karen J. Derefinko & Jessica R. Peters

  2. Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Tory A. Eisenlohr-Moul

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Erin C. Walsh

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Zachary W. Adams

  5. Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, Lafayette, IN, USA

    Donald R. Lynam

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  1. Karen J. Derefinko
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  2. Jessica R. Peters
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  3. Tory A. Eisenlohr-Moul
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  4. Erin C. Walsh
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  5. Zachary W. Adams
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  6. Donald R. Lynam
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Correspondence to Karen J. Derefinko.

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Derefinko, K.J., Peters, J.R., Eisenlohr-Moul, T.A. et al. Relations Between Trait Impulsivity, Behavioral Impulsivity, Physiological Arousal, and Risky Sexual Behavior Among Young Men. Arch Sex Behav 43, 1149–1158 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0327-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0327-x

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