Its official: Alcohol can induce us to have unsafe sex

The new study summarizes the results of 12 experiments that tested this cause-and-effect relationship in a systematic way.u00a0After pooling the results, the researchers found that alcohol consumption affects decision-making, and that this impact rises with the amount of alcohol consumed - the more alcohol that participants consumed, the higher their willingness to engage in unsafe sex.

"Drinking has a causal effect on the likelihood to engage in unsafe sex, and thus should be included as a major factor in preventive efforts for HIV," noted Dr. J. Rehm, the Principal Investigator of the study.u00a0"This result also helps explain why people at risk often show this behaviour despite better knowledge: alcohol is influencing their decision processes," he added.u00a0The finding has been published in the January issue of the journal Addiction.