Grant: Operating Grant - PA: HIV/AIDS Res Initiative - Hlth Svs/Population Hlth Stream

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) remains a public health issue in Canada, and particularly affected by the Canadian HIV epidemic are men who have sex with men (MSM), who comprise over half of all HIV diagnoses in Canada to date. Unprotected sexual intercourse is the primary method through which HIV is spread in Canada, and this is especially true for MSM populations. Although it has often been suggested that consuming alcohol causes people to engage in unprotected sex, research has tended to provide mixed support for this link. Our understanding of the alcohol-risky sex link is further limited by the fact that there has been no research to date that has directly examined alcohol's causal role in condom use decisions among populations who are at an elevated risk for acquiring HIV, including MSM. Building on the previous work in this area and addressing these limitations, the present investigation will involve an innovative experimental approach to identify the causal role of alcohol consumption in MSM's intentions to engage in unprotected sex, taking into account risk-relevant personality traits, partner characteristics, and alcohol-related expectancies. In this study, 130 sexually active MSM will be recruited from a clinical care facility to take part in an experimental session in which they will 1) complete measures assessing personality traits and expectancies, 2) undergo an alcohol manipulation, and 3) indicate their intentions to engage in a variety of protected and unprotected sexual acts with a series of hypothetical sexual partners. Results yielded through this comprehensive experimental approach will help identify the extent to which alcohol plays an independent role in condom use decisions, which, in turn, could guide the development of future HIV prevention initiatives that target unprotected sex among at-risk populations. Such initiatives could ultimately impact large-scale public health campaigns aimed at reducing HIV incidence in Canada over time.