Behavioral reactivity to ecological momentary assessment of alcohol and sexual assault protective behavioral strategies.

Abstract

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is increasingly used to examine risk and protective factors associated with alcohol-involved sexual assault (SA). Whereas extant literature demonstrates limited reactivity (i.e., systematic behavior change) to repeated assessment of risk behaviors (e.g., drinking), we know little about the impact of EMA on protective behaviors (i.e., harm reduction strategies). The present study examined between- and within-person reactivity to EMA participation using data from a larger study of alcohol and SA protective behavioral strategy (PBS) use. First-year college women (N = 138) were randomized to a 14-day EMA or a reactivity control condition. Both conditions completed baseline/follow-up measures of drinking behavior, alcohol PBS, and SA PBS. The EMA condition reported alcohol and SA PBS use each morning after drinking. We used 2 × 2 analyses of variance to examine differences in PBS use by condition (EMA vs. control) over time (baseline vs. follow-up); within-person changes in PBS use were probed with multilevel models. We found Significant Condition × Time interactions for both alcohol PBS and SA PBS; the EMA condition increased PBS use relative to the control condition across the first semester of college. Across the 14-day EMA protocol, women marginally increased alcohol PBS use and significantly increased SA PBS use. Participation in a 14-day EMA protocol may lead to changes in PBS use among first-semester college women. Results encourage examination of and controlling for potential reactivity in etiology and intervention studies of PBS use and highlight the potential of momentary interventions to increase PBS use over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).