A new SAS procedure for latent transition analysis: transitions in dating and sexual risk behavior

The set of statistical methods available to developmentalists is continually being expanded, allowing for questions about change over time to be addressed in new, informative ways. Indeed, new developments in methods to model change over time create the possibility for new research questions to be posed. Latent transition analysis, a longitudinal extension of latent class analysis, is a method that can be used to model development in discrete latent variables, for example, stage processes, over 2 or more times. The current article illustrates this approach using a new SAS procedure, PROC LTA, to model change over time in adolescent and young adult dating and sexual risk behavior. Gender differences are examined, and substance use behaviors are included as predictors of initial status in dating and sexual risk behavior and transitions over time.     

Greater exposure to sexual content in popular movies predicts earlier sexual debut and increased sexual risk taking

Early sexual debut is associated with risky sexual behavior and an increased risk of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections later in life. The relations among early movie sexual exposure (MSE), sexual debut, and risky sexual behavior in adulthood (i.e., multiple sexual partners and inconsistent condom use) were examined in a longitudinal study of U.S. adolescents. MSE was measured using the Beach method, a comprehensive procedure for media content coding. Controlling for characteristics of adolescents and their families, analyses showed that MSE predicted age of sexual debut, both directly and indirectly through changes in sensation seeking. MSE also predicted engagement in risky sexual behaviors both directly and indirectly via early sexual debut. These results suggest that MSE may promote sexual risk taking both by modifying sexual behavior and by accelerating the normal rise in sensation seeking during adolescence.     

Studies of instrumental behavior with sexual reinforcement in male rats (Rattus norvegicus): I. Control by brief visual stimuli paired with a receptive female

We describe a novel procedure for measuring instrumental sexual behavior in the male rat by using a second-order schedule of presentation of sexual reinforcement, an estrous female. Experimental assessment and validation of the paradigm have been achieved by examining (a) the importance of the conditioned stimulus in maintaining instrumental responding by measuring the effects of its omission during a test session, (b) the effects and motivational specificity on instrumental behavior of the postejaculatory refractory period (a period of sexual unarousability) and of satiety for food by measuring the impact of each manipulation on animals working for food and for a female, (c) the effects of replacing an estrous female with an anestrous one as the earned reward, and (d) the correlations between conditioned and unconditioned measures of sexual behavior. We conclude that the second-order paradigm provides a means of distinguishing between the effects of neuroendocrine manipulations on incentive motivational and performance variables underlying the expression of sexual behavior.     

Effects of female odors on the sexual behavior of male hamsters

A series of experiments was undertaken to investigate the effects of removal of several scent glands and scent-producing organs of female hamsters on the copulatory performance of male hamsters. In the first experiment it was shown that males engage in less copulatory activity toward females lacking vaginal secretions than toward females with these odors. Eliminating visual cues by observing pairs under infrared illumination did not change the performance of males toward these two kinds of females. The results of Experiment 2 indicated the importance of flank, ear, and Harderian glands as well as vaginal secretions--males showed the highest levels of copulatory behavior toward females with a full complement of odors and the lowest levels toward those lacking three of four sources of scent. Similar results were obtained in the third experiment in which anesthetized females were used as stimulus animals to increase the importance of chemical cues and to reduce variability due to the behavior of females. The sexual behavior of males was greatest toward females with all sources of scent present, lower toward those lacking vaginal secretions, and still lower toward those lacking vaginal secretions and other sources of odors. In the fourth experiment we asked whether any one of the nonvaginal scent glands was particularly important in stimulating male sexual behavior, but we found no differences in male performance toward females that lacked vaginal secretions or that in addition lacked one of the other scent glands. In the fifth experiment males displayed higher levels of sexual behavior toward vaginectomized females than toward vaginectomized females that had been deodorized by a cleaning procedure, again indicating the importance of nonvaginal odors in stimulating copulatory performance. Thus these experiments demonstrate the importance of vaginal secretions in the sexual arousal of male hamsters, a role for nonvaginal odors in sexual arousal of males, and the lack of necessity of these odors for male copulatory behavior. These results have implications for theories of olfactory communication in mammals and for interpretations of experiments in which lesions of the olfactory system lead to deficits in male copulatory performance.     

Fading to increase heterosexual responsiveness in homosexuals

Heterosexual responsiveness, measured by penile responses and reports of behavior, was strengthened in three homosexuals through a fading procedure. Using two slide projectors, colored slides of nude females were superimposed on colored slides of nude males. As the sexual response was emitted, the nude male was faded out and the nude female faded in. Heterosexual arousal decreased when the fading procedure was reversed or stopped and increased once again when fading was resumed. Homosexual arousal remained high during this experiment but had decreased in two subjects at follow-up. The results suggest that fading was responsible for altering stimulus control of sexual arousal and that aversive techniques may not be necessary in the treatment of sexual deviation.     

Sexual Sensation Seeking: Scale Development and Predicting AIDS-Risk Behavior Among Homosexually Active Men

Sensation seeking, the propensity to prefer exciting, optimal, and novel stimulation or arousal, is a potential mediating factor in sexual risk for human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV), the cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). However, the most widely used measure of sensation seeking, the Sensation Seeking Scale (Zuckerman, Kolin, Price, & Zoob. 1964). contains numerous culturally outdated items and items that do not pertain to sexual behavior, in this study, 106 homosexually active men completed newly developed measures of sensation seeking related to sexual and nonsexual experiences, as well as a measure of sexual compulsivity. Results show that the new scales were internally consistent and time-stable. Additional analyses demonstrated convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity for these scales, showing them to be of use as mediating variables in models of high-risk sexual behavior. Implications for HIV prevention and behavior change are discussed.     

Assessment and treatment of foot-shoe fetish displayed by a man with autism

Results of a functional analysis indicated that a man diagnosed with autism engaged in bizarre sexual behavior in the presence of women wearing sandals. Several treatments proved to be ineffective or impractical. By contrast, a response-interruption/time-out procedure quickly eliminated the problem behavior in multiple settings.     

Assessment of the Fiji-Based Condom Social Marketing (CSM) Program

This paper discusses the results of a systematic review of the Condom Social Marketing (CSM) program which was implemented in Fiji by a non-profit organization for a period of 5?years. The CSM program was introduced during a decade when Fiji was recording an escalating number of new Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections. The aim of the program was to increase the awareness and utilization of safe sexual practices among the most vulnerable group??the youths??which had reported the highest incidences of sexually transmitted infections. Program assessment revealed that the CSM program had reportedly increased the acceptability, accessibility, and usage of their TRY TiME condoms in Fiji. We conducted a survey on a sample of sexually active people during January?CFebruary 2009 to examine their prevailing level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS, sexual behavior/practices, and risk perception. The results showed that, despite the high level of awareness about HIV/AIDS among survey participants, people did not consistently practice safe sexual behavior and commonly identified themselves as at low risk of acquiring HIV. This paper concludes that more extensive behavior change programs are needed in order to influence people to change their risky sexual practices and reassess their risk perceptions.     

Midlife Sexuality Among Thai Adults: Adjustment to Aging in the Thai Family Context

The objective of the study is to assess views of age related changes in sexual behavior among married Thai adults age 53–57. Results are viewed in the context of life course theory. In-depth interviews were conducted with 44 Thai adults in Bangkok and the four regions of Thailand. Topics covered include changing sexual behavior with age, adjustment to this change, gender differences in behavior, attitudes toward commercial sex and other non-marital sexual partners, and condom use. Most respondents were aware of this change and saw a decrease in sexual activity and desire more often among women compared to men. At the same time, many respondents viewed sexuality as important to a marriage. Some respondents accepted the decrease in sexual activity and focused more on work, family and temple activities. Thai Buddhism was seen as an important resource for people who were dealing with changes due to aging. Other persons turned to other partners including both commercial and non-commercial partners. The influence of the HIV epidemic that began in the 1990s was seen in concerns about disease transmission with extramarital partners and consequent attitudes toward condom use. The acceptability of extramarital partners in the family and community ranged from acceptance to strong disapproval of extramarital relationships.     

The expression of the genes of aggressiveness in mice: The effect of androgen on aggression and sexual behavior in females

Female mice of strains selectively bred for aggressiveness or nonaggressiveness were injected with testosterone propionate (TF′) at the age of 2 days and as adults, or they were injected as adults only. Aggressive and sexual behavior was then tested with female, receptive female, and male partners before, during, and after the latter TP treatment. The females that had received both TP treatments displayed as much or as little aggression as males of the same strain, leading to the conclusion that aggressiveness genes are not linked with the male sex chromosome, even though they depend on it for their expression. The sexual behavior of the females of both strains that had received both TP treatments was altered to the male type. In the females of the aggressive strain even adult treatment alone was sufficient for this change. Aggressiveness and male sexual behavior would seem to be determined separately, although aggressiveness facilitates the display of male sexual behavior.     

Men's sex-dominance inhibition: do men automatically refrain from sexually dominant behavior?

Men receive conflicting messages about their sexual roles in heterosexual relationships. Men are socialized to initiate and direct sexual activities with women; yet societal norms also proscribe the sexual domination and coercion of women. The authors test these competing hypotheses by assessing whether men inhibit the link between sex and dominance. In Studies 1a and b, using a subliminal priming procedure embedded in a lexical decision task, the authors demonstrate that men automatically suppress the concept of dominance following exposure to subliminal sex primes relative to neutral primes. In Studies 2 and 3, the authors show that men who are less likely to perceive sexual assertiveness as necessary, to refrain from dominant sexual behavior, and who do not invest in masculine gender ideals are more likely to inhibit dominant thoughts following sex primes. Implications for theories of automatic cognitive networks and gender-based sexual roles are discussed.     

Alterations of male sexual behavior by learned aversions to hamster vaginal secretion

Male hamsters poisoned after their first adult exposure to the vaginal secretion of female hamsters became hesitant to approach and ingest the secretion. The same aversion-training procedure also altered the responses of males to estrous females, changing the latency, frequency, and duration of a variety of behaviors that are commonly taken as indexes of sexual attraction or arousal and of copulatory performance. The effects suggest that the aversions to vaginal secretion alter the perceived meaning of the secretion for male hamsters, and analysis of the correlations between various measures of sexual arousal and performance support the hypothesis that separate mechanisms underlie the effects of the secretion on appetitive and consummatory sexual behavior.     

Personal Strategies for HIV Prevention: The Development and Validation of a Strategy-Coding Instrument1

This paper describes the development of a coding instrument to classify college students' strategies for preventing HIV infection, and examines the association of distinct strategies with social cognitive and behavioral measures related to safer sexual behavior. This instrument classifies each strategy into both a content domain (e.g., using condoms, remaining abstinent, limiting sexual partners), and 3 distinct dimensions: commitment, specificity, and effectiveness. We examine the reliability and validity of this instrument by showing the discriminative associations of each dimension with social cognitive and behavioral measures, and demonstrate the differential importance of distinct dimensions in predicting behavior in different content domains. Discussion focuses on the importance of tailoring HIV prevention messages to change strategy dimensions in order to maximize behavior change.     

Counselor-Client Sexual Contact: Implications for Ethics Training

Most programs spend little or no time addressing the prohibition against sexual contact with clients, yet it is the most commonly violated of the ethical principles. This article provides a brief overview of models of ethics training and addresses specific strategies for preventing counselor-client sexual contact. These strategies include knowledge, activities that promote self-awareness, and provision of a climate that enhances the development of moral values and behavior. The responsibilities of training programs are addressed, including the provision of clear statements of the rights and responsibilities of trainees and of a due process and grievance procedure for review of impaired or problematic trainees.     

A three city comparison of the public's knowledge and attitudes about AIDS

A survey of knowledge, beliefs and attitudes about AIDS was administered simultaneously in San Francisco, New York and London to a total of 399 persons. The aim was to investigate how such knowledge and attitudes may he influenced by social and cultural contexts, as well as by disease epidemiology. Across all samples of the general public (excluding risk group members) in the three cities, general fear of AIDS and anti-gay attitudes were significantly negatively correlated with knowledge about AIDS. In the London sample, general fear of AIDS and anti-gay attitudes were significantly and positively associated with both sexual and general health behavior change. Only sexual behavior change, however, was significantly correlated with general fear of AIDS and anti-gay variables for the New York sample. Neither of these variables was significantly associated with behavior change of any kind in the San Francisco sample. We accounted for these inter-city differences by proposing a four-stage model of public response to an epidemic over time. Our data support the need for specific programs aimed at the general public that take into account sociocultural and AIDS epidemiologic differences across different sociocultural contexts.     

Death anxiety and sexual risk-taking: different manifestations of the process of defense

College students(n = 162) completed measures of death anxiety and sexual risk-taking, with a thought listing procedure in-between. Those who completed the death anxiety measure first (Death Salient condition) reportedgreater willingness to engage in high-risk sexual behavior than the Non-Death Salient group. This result was consistent with the hypothesis that evoking death anxiety would produce denial-based defensive activity. Also, Death Salient participants reporting more death thoughts were lower on risk-taking, as predicted. Interestingly, Death Salient participants reporting stressful thoughts about issues unrelated to personal mortality (displacement) were also less willing to engage in high-risk sexual behavior. The results are discussed in relation to a new, avowal-based model of the process of psychological defense.     

Death anxiety and sexual risk-taking: different manifestations of the process of defense

College students(n = 162) completed measures of death anxiety and sexual risk-taking, with a thought listing procedure in-between. Those who completed the death anxiety measure first (Death Salient condition) reportedgreater willingness to engage in high-risk sexual behavior than the Non-Death Salient group. This result was consistent with the hypothesis that evoking death anxiety would produce denial-based defensive activity. Also, Death Salient participants reporting more death thoughts were lower on risk-taking, as predicted. Interestingly, Death Salient participants reporting stressful thoughts about issues unrelated to personal mortality (displacement) were also less willing to engage in high-risk sexual behavior. The results are discussed in relation to a new, avowal-based model of the process of psychological defense.     

Sexual behavior, drugs, and relationship patterns on a college campus over thirteen years

Three samples of college students at a small New England liberal arts college received questionnaires regarding their sexual philosophies, behavior, relationship with most recent partner, self-perceived attractiveness, relationship with parents, use of drugs and alcohol, attitudes toward marriage and abortion, and other subjects. The college was sampled in 1974, 1979, and 1986. Sexual behavior increased dramatically from 1974 to 1979 and then decreased in 1986 to approximately where it was in 1974. The reason for this change, and findings regarding the relationships between sexual behavior and many of the variables cited above are discussed.     

Early intervention for female sexual identity disturbance: Self-monitoring of play behavior

This study is the first experimental demonstration of sex-typed play behavior change in a young girl with sexual identity disturbance. The 8-year-old child was treated with a self-monitoring procedure combined with a behavioral prompting technique that was gradually faded out. Self-monitoring in the clinic resulted in a high, stable rate of appropriate sex-typed play, and this effect generalized to a different set of sex-typed toys over time. The treatment effects did not generalize to the home environment. The self-regulation intervention was subsequently adapted to the home setting, resulting in a replication of the treatment effects across settings. After the removal of the self-monitoring interventions, a high level of feminine sex-typed play persisted. Pretreatment, posttreatment, and follow-up psychological testing demonstrated a reversal of a pronounced cross-gender identity to a normal female sexual identity.This study was supported by United States Public Health Service research grant MH29945 awarded to Dr. Rekers at the Logos Research Institute, Inc., by the National Institute of Mental Health. Appreciation is expressed to Dr. Vernon Van de Riet for his independent clinical psychological diagnosis.