Self-reported Sexual Assault Research Articles

History of Sexual Assault Perpetration and Violence-Related Prosocial Tendencies Among Men by Fraternity Affiliation Status.

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine self-reported sexual assault perpetration history, as well as violence prevention-related prosocial tendencies, among fraternity men, unaffiliated men with membership intentions, and unaffiliated men without membership intentions with data from 262,634 college men in the United States. Results indicate that fraternity status was related to sexual assault perpetration, both prior to and while at their current institution of higher education; both perpetration history and fraternity status significantly related to diminished violence prevention-related prosocial tendencies. The findings have important implications for future research and practice to reduce the incidents of sexual assault on college campuses.

A protocol for a cluster-randomized controlled trial testing an empowerment intervention to prevent sexual assault in upper primary school adolescents in the informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya

BackgroundSexual violence against adolescents is prevalent worldwide and results in significant physical and mental injuries as well as loss of economic and personal potential. Urban informal settlements such as those around Nairobi, Kenya have been shown to have especially high incidences of violence. Research has shown that empowerment interventions for female adolescents can reduce sexual assault. However, these interventions have had limited testing in urban informal settlements, with young adolescents, or in coordination with complementary programs for male adolescents.Methods/designThis study was a two-arm, parallel, cluster-randomized trial testing a combination of a previously-tested girls’ intervention, IMPower, and a newly revised boys’ intervention, Source of Strength. Clusters were defined as schools within the informal settlements; participants were adolescent girls and boys in class 6, generally between the ages of 10–14 at baseline. Data collection began in January 2016 and continued through December 2018. The primary outcome was the change in incidence of self-reported sexual assault among girls from baseline, compared to a life skills standard of care intervention. Secondary outcomes included experiences of physical and emotional violence, as well as determining the effects of the intervention on self-efficacy, self-esteem, and gender attitudes and beliefs, and how those effects led to changes in experience of sexual assault. For the primary outcome and several of the secondary outcomes, we used an intention to treat estimand.DiscussionThis was the first randomized controlled trial with longitudinal follow-up of an empowerment self-defense approach to violence prevention for adolescents in informal settlements. The large size and rigorous design supported analysis to understand multiple subgroup experiences in the hypothesized reduction in sexual assault. The study was also unique in its focus on young (10–14 years of age) adolescents and in engaging both boys and girls in separate but coordinated curriculums. The focus on a highly vulnerable and understudied population will make it a significant contribution to the literature on violence prevention.Trial registrationClinical Trials.gov #NCT02771132. Version 3.1 registered May 2017, first participant enrolled January 2017. Retrospectively registered.

Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, and Physical Activity Among U.S. Military Service Members in the Millennium Cohort Study.

Sexual harassment (SH) and sexual assault (SA) continue to be a focus of prevention efforts in the U.S. military because of the prevalence and potential to affect the health and readiness of service members. Limited research exists on the association of SH and SA with coping behaviors, such as physical activity, within the military. Data including self-reported SA, SH, and physical activity were obtained from the Millennium Cohort Study, a longitudinal cohort study designed to examine the impact of military service on the health and well-being of service members. A hierarchical regression approach was applied to examine the association between SH or SA and subsequent physical activity levels. Hierarchical regression showed that, among those self-reporting recent SA, the odds of medium-high (300-449 min/week) and high physical activity levels (≥450 min/week) were significantly increased. Although the magnitude of these associations was attenuated with an increasing amount of adjustment, the odds of high physical activity levels remained statistically significant in the fully adjusted model (medium-high: odds ratio [OR] = 1.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.08, 2.73]; high: OR = 1.58, 95% CI = [1.02, 2.44]). We observed statistically significant negative associations between recent SH and medium-high physical activity levels in adjusted models (OR = 0.70, 95% CI = [0.54, 0.91]). The current results demonstrate that SA is generally associated with increased levels of physical activity among military service members. Analyzing the relationship between sexual trauma and physical activity is valuable because of the high prevalence of SH and SA in the military, long-term health implications including physical and emotional well-being, and potential impact on military readiness.

Prevalence and Correlates of Sexual Assault Perpetration and Ambiguous Consent in a Representative Sample of College Students.

The primary aim of the current study was to examine the prevalence and correlates of self-reported sexual assault (SA) perpetration, defined as nonconsensual sexualized touching or attempted or completed oral, vaginal, or anal penetration since starting college among men, women, and gender nonconforming (GNC) students. A secondary aim was to examine the prevalence and correlates of self-reported sexual encounters when the respondent was unsure that their partner consented (ambiguous consent). In spring 2016, 1,671 randomly sampled students (67% response rate) at two interconnected urban undergraduate institutions participated in an online survey about sexual experiences and personal and social contextual correlates. Prevalence estimates for SA perpetration and ambiguous consent were estimated and logistic regression was used to test bivariate associations between these two outcomes and a range of potential correlates. Approximately 2% of students self-reported any SA perpetration and 9% reported any ambiguous consent experiences since starting college. Pre-college SA perpetration, past-year SA victimization, belief in and use of nonverbal consent strategies, binge drinking, and depression symptoms were associated with higher odds of both SA perpetration and ambiguous consent while at college. Hookups were associated with higher odds of ambiguous consent; family social support was associated with lower odds of ambiguous consent. Findings of similar correlates for SA perpetration and ambiguous consent point to prevention programming focused on verbal consent strategies, alcohol harm reduction approaches, and pre-college interventions.

Undergraduate Men's Self-Reports of Sexual Assault and Perceptions of College Campus Acquaintance Rape.

Acquaintance rape is distressingly common on college campuses. Differing models of the perpetration of sexual assault make diverging predictions regarding the degree to which individual differences may distinguish among such sexual offenders and nonoffenders. Much research investigating these issues has primarily sampled students from large, commuter colleges. Such data may not generalize to students in other university settings (e.g., private schools, students in university housing). The present study sought to examine the rate of self-reported sexual assault among college men at a private school at which most students live in university housing. Furthermore, we examined whether individual difference characteristics-namely, endorsement of masculine gender norms and endorsement of modern myths about sexual assault-predicted participants' perceptions of acquaintance rape. A total of 219 college men completed a survey consisting of the Male Role Norm Inventory (MRNI), followed by the Acceptance of Modern Myths About Sexual Aggression (AMMSA) and the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES). They then read a hypothetical acquaintance rape scenario and provided several ratings regarding their attributions of blame. Approximately, 4.6% of men self-reported having committed sexual assault. A Bayesian analysis indicated that self-reported offenders did not score differently on MRNI and AMMSA than self-reported nonoffenders, nor did they view the hypothetical scenario differently. Overall, men who endorsed male role norms tended to accept modern myths about rape and tended to attribute more blame to the victim and less blame to the perpetrator in the acquaintance rape scenario. We discuss methodological difficulties in conducting this type of research and identify several directions for future research.

Assessing Sexual Coercion: Survey Wording Differences and the Victimization-Perpetration Discrepancy

The current study examined the impact of item wording on self-reported sexual assault perpetration and victimization rates. The Sexual Experiences Survey (SES; Koss et al. in Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 162–170, 1987) is a self-report assessment of female sexual victimization and male sexual perpetration. Studies using the SES consistently report a marked discrepancy between victimization rates and perpetration rates. The wording of the SES items asks respondents to report whether experiences occurred in the absence of female want. It was hypothesized that modified items, which did not require an analysis of female want, would yield increased male response rates compared to the original SES, but that female rates would be equivalent across versions. Parallel male and female SES items, for coercive sexual contact and intercourse, were compared with modified items. Analyses of the data confirmed the hypothesis that modified items yielded increased reports for males in the contact and intercourse conditions. Female response rates on modified items were increased in the contact condition, but not the intercourse condition. Implications of these findings were discussed.

Self-Reported Sexual Assault in Convicted Sex Offenders and Community Men

Self-Reported Sexual Assault in Convicted Sex Offenders and Community Men

On the Relationship Between Automatic Attitudes and Self-Reported Sexual Assault in Men

On the Relationship Between Automatic Attitudes and Self-Reported Sexual Assault in Men

Self-Reported Sexual Assault in Convicted Sex Offenders and Community Men

Although self-reported sexual assault perpetrated by men against women has been well documented among college men, less is known about self-reported perpetration among convicted sex offenders and community men. This study provides unique descriptive and comparative information on sexual assaults in these understudied populations. Participants were 40 convicted sex offenders and 49 demographically comparable community men who completed the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES; Abbey, Parkhill, & Koss, 2005; Koss, Gidycz, & Wisniewski, 1987) and other surveys to capture the promiscuous sex and hostile masculinity pathways posited by the confluence model (Malamuth, 2003). We found notably few differences between sex offenders and community men in the rate and severity of sexual assault perpetration and the tactics used to obtain unwanted sexual contact. Specifically, 68% of sex offenders and 59% of community men acknowledged they had perpetrated sexual assault. Both groups used guilt and anger as the most frequent tactics to obtain unwanted sexual activity from their female victims. Consistent with the confluence model, an impersonal orientation toward sexual relationships was associated with sexual assault for both sex offenders and community men. Future directions for research on sexual assault perpetration and violence prevention efforts are discussed in light of these findings.

On the Relationship Between Automatic Attitudes and Self-Reported Sexual Assault in Men

Research and theory suggest rape supportive attitudes are important predictors of sexual assault; yet, to date, rape supportive attitudes have been assessed through self-report measures that are methodologically and theoretically limited. To address these limitations, the objectives of the current project were to: (1) develop a novel implicit rape attitude assessment that captures automatic attitudes about rape and does not rely on self-reports, and (2) examine the association between automatic rape attitudes and sexual assault perpetration. We predicted that automatic rape attitudes would be a significant unique predictor of sexual assault even when self-reported rape attitudes (i.e., rape myth acceptance and hostility toward women) were controlled. We tested the generalizability of this prediction in two independent samples: a sample of undergraduate college men (n=75, M age=19.3years) and a sample of men from the community (n=50, M age=35.9years). We found the novel implicit rape attitude assessment was significantly associated with the frequency of sexual assault perpetration in both samples and contributed unique variance in explaining sexual assault beyond rape myth acceptance and hostility toward women. We discuss the ways in which future research on automatic rape attitudes may significantly advance measurement and theory aimed at understanding and preventing sexual assault.

Do drinking motives mediate the association between sexual assault and problem drinking?

Sexual assault and problem drinking are both prevalent in college women and are interrelated. Findings from cross-sectional research indicate that motives to drink to decrease negative affect (coping motives) or to increase positive affect (enhancement motives) are partial mediators of the sexual assault–problem drinking relation. However, no published longitudinal studies have examined these relations. The current study tests a longitudinal model and examines coping and enhancement motives as potential mediators. Participants were 131 female undergraduates who completed baseline measures of self-reported sexual assault victimization and problem drinking. Coping and enhancement motives were measured at three-month follow up; problem drinking was measured at six-month follow-up. Analyses using structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated direct and indirect paths in the sexual assault–problem drinking relation. Zero-order correlations indicated significant, positive relations among drinking motives, sexual assault, and drinking variables. Longitudinally, mediation was evident for coping but not enhancement motives. Ultimately, findings were most consistent with self-medication hypotheses about the sexual assault – problem drinking relation – i.e., drinking in order to gain relief from symptoms or problems.

Social Factors Associated with History of Sexual Assault Among Ethnically Diverse Adolescents

We examine the association of adolescents' self-reported sexual assault victimization with their living arrangements, parent's education, and plans for college. Participants included 1,634 ethnically-diverse and economically-disadvantaged high school students in southeast Texas. Lifetime history of forced sexual assault was reported by 8.3% of girls and 9% of boys. No association with gender, age, or parent's education was detected. However, adolescents in non-traditional households (living with one parent, grandparents, or other) were more likely to report rape than youth living with both parents. Adolescents who were one race/ethnicity were less likely to report being raped than those in the multiple race category. Sexual assault intervention programs should account for a teenager's living situation; and prevention efforts may benefit from targeting individuals in non-traditional households. The lack of an association with either gender or socio-educational status indicates that all children are at risk and that school-based programs should be broadly targeted.

Sexual assault and physical health: findings from a population-based study of older adults.

Prior reports have pointed to an adverse effect of sexual assault on subsequent health, particularly depression and obesity, in women. The objective of this study was to determine whether there is an association between self-reported sexual assault history and objective parameters of physical health in a sample of older men and women. We conducted a cross-sectional study of white, middle to upper middle class, older (median age 75 years) men (N = 533) and women (N = 826) within a defined community setting. Sex-specific, age-adjusted risks were calculated for 11 common chronic medical conditions (10 for each sex: coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, asthma, migraine, thyroid disease, and arthritis in all subjects; breast cancer in women; and prostate cancer in men) and confirmed by physical or laboratory examination or review of medical records. Sexual assault was reported by 5.4% of men and 12.7% of women; repeated exposure was reported by 10.3 and 21.9% of sexually assaulted men and women, respectively. In women, a history of sexual assault was associated with an increased risk of 2 of 10 conditions: arthritis (OR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.13-2.76) and breast cancer (OR = 2.21, 95% CI = 1.12-4.33). A "dose-response" effect was observed: Multiple episodes of sexual assault carried a two- to three-fold increased risk of these diseases compared with a single episode. In men, the only statistically significant association was between sexual assault and thyroid disease (OR = 4.68, 95% CI = 1.08-20.3). These data partially replicate findings from other studies of adverse effects of sexual trauma on health, although the specific diseases are different. Causal mechanisms cannot be inferred from these data. Studies in other cohorts are warranted.

The Sexual Assault Symptom Scale: Measuring self-reported sexual assault trauma in the emergency room.

To test the utility of a new self-report measure of trauma in the immediate aftermath of sexual assault, 253 women were interviewed with the 32-item Sexual Assault Symtom Scale (SASS) in a hospital emergency room within 72 hr of assault

The Sexual Assault Symptom Scale: Measuring self-reported sexual assault trauma in the emergency room.

The Sexual Assault Symptom Scale: Measuring self-reported sexual assault trauma in the emergency room.