Sexual Victimization, Alcohol Intoxication, Sexual-Emotional Responding, and Sexual Risk in Heavy Episodic Drinking Women

Sexual victimization is associated with risky sexual behaviors. Limited research has examined mechanisms via which victimization affects risk behaviors, particularly following different types of sexual victimization. This study examined self-worth as a mediator of the relationship between sexual victimization history: contact childhood sexual abuse (CSA), completed rape in adolescence/adulthood (adolescent/adulthood sexual assault [ASA]), and combined CSA/ASA, and two sexual risk behaviors: past year partners and one-time encounters. Participants were diverse (57.9% African American), low-income women recruited from an OB-GYN waiting room (n = 646). Women with a history of sexual victimization, 29.8% (n = 186) reported lower self-worth, t(586) = 5.26, p < .001, and more partners, t(612) = 2.45, p < .01, than nonvictims. Self-worth was a significant mediator only among women with combined CSA/ASA histories in both risk behavior models.

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Reducing sexual risk behaviors: secondary analyses from a randomized controlled trial of a brief web-based alcohol intervention for underage, heavy episodic drinking college women

Addiction Research & Theory ◽

10.1080/16066359.2016.1271416 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 302-309 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kaitlin E. Bountress ◽

Isha W. Metzger ◽

Jessica L. Maples-Keller ◽

Amanda K. Gilmore

Keyword(s):

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

College Women ◽

Sexual Risk ◽

Risk Behaviors ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Heavy Episodic Drinking ◽

Alcohol Intervention ◽

Web Based ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Secondary Analyses

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An Event-Level Investigation of Factors Associated With Young Women’s Experiences of Coerced Consensual Sex

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260516683178 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 35 (1-2) ◽

pp. 384-402 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Cynthia A. Stappenbeck ◽

Jeanette Norris ◽

Rhiana Wegner ◽

Amanda E. B. Bryan ◽

Kelly Cue Davis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual Victimization ◽

Alcohol Intoxication ◽

Sexual Experience ◽

Estimating Equation ◽

Equation Model ◽

Level Data ◽

Consensual Sex ◽

Main Effects ◽

The Relationship ◽

Victimization History

Little is known about instances of coerced consensual sex in which women report both that they consented to have sex and that their partner used coercive tactics (e.g., made threats) to get them to have sex when they did not want to. Yet, these experiences are frequently reported by young sexually active women. We examined the relationship between sexual victimization history and the woman’s level of alcohol intoxication in the likelihood of experiencing coerced consensual sex using event-level data collected over a 1-year period from 548 young adult nonproblem drinking women who engaged in sexual activity with men. Twenty percent ( n = 112) reported at least one incident of coerced consensual sex. A generalized estimating equation model revealed main effects of daily estimated blood alcohol content (eBAC) and sexual victimization severity. The more women increased their alcohol consumption above their own average and the more severe their sexual victimization history, the more likely they were to experience coerced consensual sex. Our findings highlight the fact that coercion and consent are not mutually exclusive in some situations and shed light on this important yet understudied coercive sexual experience.

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Sexual Attitudes Moderate the Effects of Alcohol Intoxication on Women’s Risk Judgments

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260515604414 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 228-249 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Elizabeth A. Yeater ◽

Teresa A. Treat ◽

Richard J. Viken ◽

Kathryn L. Lenberg

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Processes ◽

Sexual Victimization ◽

Sexual Attitudes ◽

Alcohol Intoxication ◽

Sexual Experience ◽

Lower Sensitivity ◽

Social Situations ◽

Alcohol Condition ◽

Risk Judgments ◽

Victimization History

This study evaluated the effects of alcohol intoxication, sexual attitudes, and sexual victimization history on the cognitive processes underlying undergraduate women’s risk judgments. Participants were 116 unmarried, undergraduate women between the ages of 21 and 29. The sample was diverse ethnically and composed primarily of heterosexual women. Stimuli were written vignettes describing social situations that varied on dimensions of sexual victimization risk and potential impact on women’s popularity. Participants were assigned randomly to an alcohol or a no-alcohol condition, and completed an explicit classification task in which they rated how risky each situation was in terms of their having an unwanted sexual experience. They then completed the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) and the Sociosexuality Scale (SS); SES responses were used to quantify the severity of victimization experiences, and SS responses were used to measure endorsement of positive attitudes toward casual, impersonal sex. Although there was no main effect for condition, higher sociosexuality predicted use of higher thresholds for judging situations as risky. Importantly, sociosexuality interacted with condition such that higher sociosexuality predicted lower sensitivity to risk information in the alcohol condition but not in the no-alcohol condition. More severe victimization history predicted increased use of popularity impactwhen judging risk. This study emphasizes the importance of identifying specific cognitive processes affected by alcohol that may explain why women have difficulty processing contextual cues signaling risk in social situations. It demonstrates also the relevance of examining individual difference factors that may exacerbate the relationship between intoxication and cognitive processing of risk-relevant information.

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Sexual Risk Behaviors, Sexual Offenses, and Sexual Victimization Among Homeless Youth

Trauma Violence & Abuse ◽

10.1177/1524838015584371 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 17 (5) ◽

pp. 468-489 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Jessica A. Heerde ◽

Sheryl A. Hemphill

Keyword(s):

Substance Use ◽

Risk Behavior ◽

Sexual Risk ◽

Sexual Risk Behavior ◽

Homeless Youth ◽

Sexual Victimization ◽

Care Utilization ◽

Health Concerns ◽

Sexual Offenses ◽

Survival Sex

The use of substances among youth experiencing homelessness is an important issue in the context of addressing the developing burden of morbidities arising due to illness, injury, physical and mental health concerns, and low rates of health care utilization among this population group. Youth experiencing homelessness report engaging in and being victimized by various forms of sexual behavior. Of interest in this systematic review were published studies investigating substance use in its association with perpetration of sexual offenses, engagement in sexual risk behavior, or experience of sexual victimization among homeless youth. A systematic search of 12 psychology, health, and social science electronic databases was conducted. Search terms included “homeless*,” “youth,” “sex crimes,” “sexual victimization,” “survival sex,” “rape,” “drugs,” and “substance abuse.” Twenty-three studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria. No studies statistically examining substance use in its association with perpetrating sexual offenses were located. Findings showed substance use was generally associated with sexual risk behavior or sexual victimization; however, it remains unclear whether substance use precedes or follows these behaviors and experiences. It is possible substances are used by homeless youth as a means of coping with sexual risk behavior and victimization. Implications of the review findings in relation to prevention and intervention approaches aimed to decrease the incidence and severity of health concerns among homeless youth are discussed.

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