ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION AND SEXUAL-ACTIVITY AS REPORTED WITH A DIARY TECHNIQUE

Although alcohol is commonly viewed as a sexual disinhibitor, recent r esearch has suggested that alcohol consumption does not consistently l ead to increased sexual activity. Nonexperimental work in this area ha s commonly used correlational procedures that do not control for indiv idual difference variables that may contribute to a drinking-sex relat ionship. This study examined the relationship of alcohol consumption t o sexual behavior by way of within-subjects analyses of data from 99 m en and women who kept daily diaries of drinking and sexual events over a 10-week period. Alcohol consumption was associated with a general a ttenuation of sexual activity, with no effects on the occurrence of se xual behaviors that are risky in terms of AIDS transmission. These dat a suggest that sexual disinhibition and lapses in sexual judgment are not necessarily common consequences of alcohol consumption.