Regularly Drinking Alcohol Before Sex in the United States: Effects of Relationship Status & Alcohol Use Disorders

BACKGROUND:

Drinking alcohol before sex increases the likelihood of engaging in sexual risk behaviors and risk for HIV infection. Relationship status (single versus partnered) and alcohol use disorders (AUD) are associated with each other and sexual risk behaviors, yet have not been examined as predictors of drinking alcohol before sex, using national data. This study examined whether relationship status and AUD increased the likelihood of regularly drinking alcohol before sex in a nationally representative sample.

METHODS:

The main and additive interaction effects of relationship status and AUD on regularly drinking alcohol before sex were analyzed among sexually active drinkers (N=17,491) from Wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). Regularly drinking alcohol before sex was defined as drinking alcohol most or all of the time before sex.

RESULTS:

After adjustment for controls, relationship status (AOR=3.51; CI=2.59-4.75) and AUD (AOR=6.24; CI=5.16-7.53) increased the likelihood of regularly drinking alcohol before sex and interacted to differentially increase this risk, with the effect of being single on the likelihood of regularly drinking alcohol before sex increased among participants with AUD (p<.001).

CONCLUSIONS:

This study reinforces the importance of relationship status and AUD to the risk for regularly drinking alcohol before sex. Public health efforts should target alcohol and HIV prevention messages to single adults, particularly those with AUD, highlighting their risk for regularly drinking alcohol before sex.

Below:  Characteristics of sample (sexually active drinkers) by status of regularly drinking alcohol prior to sexual activity (N=17,491).

Variable	Do Not Regularly Drink Alcohol Prior to Sexual Activity (N=16,876) %	Regularly Drink Alcohol Prior to Sexual Activity (N=615) %
Main Predictors
Relationship Status (Single)	5.29	17.73
Alcohol Use Disorders	14.75	51.58
Control Variables
Age
18–29 years	20.73	18.67
30–39 years	24.23	17.51
40–49 years	25.23	25.39
50+ years	29.81	38.41
Race
Non-Hispanic White	73.74	71.60
Non-Hispanic Black	9.44	13.51
Native American	2.05	2.96
Asian/Pacific Islander	3.38	2.77
Hispanic	11.39	9.15
Gender
Male	54.01	69.81
Female	45.99	30.19
Education
Less than HS	8.72	12.27
HS graduate	24.45	27.44
At least some college	66.82	60.29
Any Psychiatric Disorder	32.69	44.62

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/sVWN5k

By:   Thompson RG Jr1, Eaton NR2, Hu MC3, Grant BF4, Hasin DS5.

• 1Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive #123, New York, NY 10032, USA. Electronic address: rgt2101@columbia.edu.
• 2Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, USA.
• 3Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive #123, New York, NY 10032, USA.
• 4Laboratory of Epidemiology and Biometry, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
• 5Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive #123, New York, NY 10032, USA; New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. 
• Drug Alcohol Depend. 2014 Aug 1;141:167-70. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.05.021. Epub 2014 Jun 4. 

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