Ralph Bolton

Alcohol and risky sex: In search of an elusive connection

Since the publication of the 1986 article by Stall, McKusick, Wiley, Coates and Ostrow, the conclusion that drinking alcohol prior to or during erotic encounters increases the probability of engaging in high-risk sexual behavior has been widely accepted, despite some contradictory findings from research on this hypothesis. This paper presents the results of tests of the alcohol/risky-sex hypothesis in a cohort of gay men in Flanders, Belgium. Failing to find evidence to support the hypothesis of a general effect of alcohol on sexual risk taking, we argue that previous conclusions on this matter must be viewed with extreme caution, especially in light of the implications that this failure to replicate has for AIDS prevention programs. Cultural, social, and methodological factors that could account for this failure to replicate are discussed in the context of a review of the literature on this hypothesis.

AIDS and promiscuity: Muddles in the models of HIV prevention

AIDS has been blamed on promiscuity and the promiscuous, and a major goal of many HIV-prevention programs has been to induce people to reduce the number of their sexual partners. Despite the salience of this concept in the AIDS discourse of scientists, policymakers, the media, religious leaders, and the gay community, critical analysis of the role of promiscuity in this epidemic has been lacking. Following a review of promiscuity in various genres of AIDS discourse, this article discusses promiscuity in American society and in HIV-prevention campaigns. The relative risks associated with monogamy, abstinence and promiscuity are examined, and the author concludes that the partner-reduction strategy, instead of contributing to a reduction in HIV transmission has been an impediment to AIDS prevention efforts, exacerbating the problem by undermining the sex-positive approaches to risk reduction that have proven effective. Responsibility for this misguided strategy is attributed to a moralistic approach to AIDS and to the misapplication of epidemiological concepts and inappropriate social science models to the task of promoting healthy forms of sexuality.

Social Support, Depression, and Self-Acceptance Among Gay Men

This study analyzes how low social support of gay men when coming out affects the reported levels of depression and self-acceptance in a non-clinical sample of Flemish (Belgium) gay men. The model used is nonrecursive. It incorporates the mutual causation between depression and self-acceptance. The manipulation of social support is considered as part of the general process of social control. After delineating the methodological problems associated with studying the relationship between the perception of support and depression, it is shown that low social support because one is gay leads first to depression and then to low levels of gay self-acceptance. Findings are discussed within the framework of social stress research and the characteristics of the social context of the setting where the data was collected.

Hostility in fantasy: A further test of the hypoglycemia-aggression hypothesis

In a recent investigation carried out among the Qolla Indians of Peru, Bolton (1973a) tested the hypothesis that hypoglycemia tends to produce high levels of individual aggressiveness. Glycemic condition was determined by the readings on a 4-hour glucose tolerance test performed on a sample of 54 adult males. Key informants then ranked these subjects on overt aggressiveness. A correlational analysis of the data supported the hypothesis that moderately hypoglycemic subjects would be more aggressive than the normoglycemic subjects. The present paper responds to questions raised about this study and describes the results of an additional test of the hypoglycemia-aggression hypothesis. The dependent variable in this follow-up study is fantasy aggression. Aggression scores were derived from Sentence Completion Test protocols for the same sample of subjects used in the first study. The results indicate a significant correlation between glycemic condition and aggression scores (Biserial, 0.57), thus providing further confirmation of the hypoglycemia-aggression hypothesis.

Coming out and AIDS-related high-risk sexual behavior.

How the withdrawal of social support associated with the coming out of gay men influences AIDS-related sexual risk-taking among Flemish (Belgian) gay men is analyzed. Recruited via key persons, the 379 gay men in this nonclinical cohort completed a lengthy, computerized questionnaire dealing with diverse aspects of gay life and culture. Independent variables include demographic characteristics, AIDS knowledge, coming-out histories, six social support dimensions, and personal resources. The dependent variables were insertive and receptive anal intercourse with and without a condom. Stepwise regression explained, respectively, 41.2, 38.4, 18.4, and 14.2% of the variance. Absence of appraisal (the view that others approve of the way one does things or feels about things) led to higher frequencies of insertive anal sex (both with and without a condom). The experience of emotional conflict lowered the use of condoms by the insertive partner in anal intercourse. Disapproval by significant others of being gay also led to higher levels of receptive anal intercourse without a condom. Subjects with a high belief in mastery had higher frequencies of risk-taking, suggesting that the combination of the experience of negative reactions and high mastery lead to greater involvement in risky sexual behavior. Findings are interpreted within the theoretical framework of the coming-out process and gay identity formation.

Sex Differences in Elicited Color Lexicon Size

On a listing task in which 72 Nepalese informants in Kathmandu and Arubari were asked to provide the names of colors, females consistently listed more terms than did males. It is suggested that sex differences in verbal fluency and in the importance of color may be responsible.

The AIDS pandemic : a global emergency

What do you do to start reading aids pandemic a global emergency? Searching the book that you love to read first or find an interesting book that will make you want to read? Everybody has difference with their reason of reading a book. Actuary, reading habit must be from earlier. Many people may be love to read, but not a book. Its not fault. Someone will be bored to open the thick book with small words to read. In more, this is the real condition. So do happen probably with this aids pandemic a global emergency.

Therapy Adherence and Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy: Comparison of Three Sources of Information

With the advent of the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), adherence became one of the key issues within the behavioral management of the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. One of the central limitations in studying adherence to HAART is that usually one has to rely on self-reported measures of adherence. In this study, we combine information on adherence from several sources. We rely not only on the self-report of patients but also on the perception of adherence reported by the patients designated most significant other. As a third measure, we use the evaluation of adherence by the physician in charge of the treatment of the patient, and finally, we also use human immunodeficiency type 1 (HIV-1) RNA levels. In order to explain variations in adherence among patients, we used the health belief model, adherence-specific social support, and the satisfaction of patients with the health care provider-patient relation. The sample consists of 86 persons (78.6% males). The mean age was 41.2 years (standard deviation, 9.1 years). Correlations between the measures are moderate to weak. These results indicate that a substantial amount of error is present when evaluating patient adherence. However, it is not known which measure is the best indicator of adherence. If we use a theoretical framework such as the health belief model as standard to evaluate variations in adherence, then our findings point in the direction of using adherence as perceived by the medical staff.

Coca Chewing and Diet

The chewing of coca leaf has played an important role in Andean life for millennia. Its persistence and pervasiveness and the fact that it is the natural source of cocaine have inspired prohibitionist movements claiming harmful effects on the health and wellbeing of Andean people. One such claim is that coca chewing results in loss of appetite and reduced consumption of food. This hypothesis is challenged by the results of a matched-pair study of food consumption by coca chewers and nonchewers in highand low-altitude zones and by ethnographic and ethnohistoric evidence that coca chewing and food consumption are complementary rather than antagonistic activities.

Sex, Science, and Social Responsibility: Cross-Cultural Research on Same-Sex Eroticism and Sexual Intolerance

Efforts to contain the global AIDS pandemic have dramatically and urgently increased the need for fundamental information on human sexuality in all cultures. Unfortunately, this crisis has also revealed the deplorable poverty of the cross-cultural research record in this domain. The author focuses on the scientific contributions made by comparativists to our understanding ofboth same-sex eroticism and sexual intolerance and argues that social and behavioral scien tists, including cross-culturalists, need to give higher priority to research on controversial subjects on applied problems and on issues of human rights and social justice, including those related to sexual orientation.