022 The Importance of the Developmental Stage of Nonconsensual Sexual Experiences in Women's Sexual Adjustment

Abstract

Nonconsensual sexual experiences (NSEs) have a significant impact on the sexual well-being of women, yet the majority of the research conducted on NSEs and sexuality have focused on childhood NSEs (i.e., child sexual abuse). The age cutoffs researchers use to define childhood (vs adolescent or adult) NSEs are often arbitrary and range from 11-18 years. The current study assesses the time of first NSE, using age of menarche and age of first consensual sexual experience as markers of developmental stage, on the sexual responses and functioning of women. Other characteristics of the NSEs, such as relationship to perpetrator, pervasiveness, and self-identification of the event as sexual assault, on adult sexual function are also examined. Women who experience their first NSE pre-menarche (n = 161), post-menarche and pre-first consensual sex (n = 147), and post-menarche and post-first consensual sex (n = 146), and a control group of women with no NSEs (n = 331) completed online measures of their NSE characteristics, their sexual responses (Graham et al., 2006), and their sexual functioning (Rosen et al., 2000).