Alcohol-related sex expectancies explain the relation between alcohol use and sexting among college students

Alcohol use and sexual behavior are prevalent among college students. Sexting, defined as the sending and/or receiving of sexually explicit content via electronic methods, is also associated with college students' alcohol use. Alcohol-related expectancies (i.e., beliefs one has regarding the cognitive and behavioral effects of alcohol) partially explain the association between alcohol use and sexual behavior. Specifically, college students perceive that alcohol relates to sexual activities through increases in sexual arousal and disinhibition. Based on prior research, the relation between alcohol use and sexting may be explained by alcohol-sex expectancies. We hypothesized that alcohol use and problems would relate to sexting indirectly through sexual drive and sexual affect expectancies. We tested this hypothesis using cross-sectional, self-report methodology in a sample of undergraduate students (N = 534). Results indicated that alcohol use and problems related to sexting through sexual drive, but not sexual affect, expectancies. Findings highlight the importance of expectancies in the relationship between alcohol use and the understudied sexual behavior of sexting.