The Role of Substance Misuse and Sexual Victimization History on Sexual Violence Risk Perception in Men Who Have Sex...

Sexual victimization (SV) is common among men who have sex with men (MSM), as is dating and sexual networking (DSN) app use. We developed a novel laboratory paradigm ("G-Date") of sexual violence risk perception in DSN app environments and explored its validity and the role of substance misuse and SV history on sexual violence risk perception.

Using convenience sampling, we recruited 145 MSM to use G-Date to interact with two bogus speed dates whose responses were scripted to be risky or nonrisky. Risky dates displayed several cues indicating risk for sexual violence perpetration. Dependent variables included pre/post changes in ratings of their dating partner's appeal, ratings of the presence of each embedded risk cue, and the duration of the speed dates.

Compared with nonrisky dates, participants terminated risky dates significantly sooner, rated them higher in each risk cue, and gave them pre- to postdate ratings of partner appeal that declined significantly more. Participants' drug misuse was associated with reduced interest in the nonrisky date but not the risky date and predicted shorter speed date length and lower partner appeal ratings across date types. Substance-facilitated SV history interacted with alcohol misuse and date type to predict sexual violence risk perception.

Results provide evidence for the paradigm's validity and suggest that drug misuse and substance-facilitated SV history shape MSM's risk perception in DSN apps. Efforts to prevent SV among MSM should consider individual characteristics, including substance misuse, in risk perception.