Adversarial Heterosexual Beliefs Moderate the Effects of Daily Emotion Modulation and Sex Motives on Condom Use...

Condom use resistance (CUR), which involves tactics to obtain condomless sex with a partner who wishes to use condoms, is a common sexual risk behavior among heterosexual men. CUR is associated with physical and mental health consequences for those who experience it. Prior research has identified adversarial heterosexual beliefs (AHB) as a trait-level risk factor that increases the likelihood of CUR engagement. However, little is known about how AHB interact with daily factors (e.g., daily emotion modulation, sex motives) to influence CUR in real-life. The current study examined how the interaction between AHB and daily emotion modulation difficulties and power- and coping-related sex motives was associated with CUR engagement. Using data from daily reports among men who have sex with women, a multilevel logistic model revealed that men were more likely to engage in CUR if they had higher average coping sex motives over the 32-day period and on days with higher power-related sex motives. Significant cross-level interactions emerged between AHB and both emotion modulation difficulties and coping sex motives. On days with greater emotion modulation difficulty, men with higher AHB reported increased CUR behavior. On days with higher coping sex motives, men with lower AHB reported increased CUR behavior. Results suggest that AHB amplify risk when coupled with impaired emotion modulation, while maladaptive coping motives represent an alternative pathway to CUR among men lower in AHB. Findings underscore the importance of examining both trait cognitive risk factors and daily emotion regulation and sex motives in understanding sexual risk behaviors.