Women’s Response Performance in Sexually Risky Situations: Associations With Disinhibited Sex-Related Alcohol Expectancies

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110163
Author(s):  
Kristen N. Vitek ◽  
Elizabeth A. Yeater
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Sexual Experience ◽  
Alcohol Expectancies ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Response Performance ◽  
Alcohol Related Problems ◽  
Victimization History

This study evaluated the effects of sexual victimization history, alcohol-related problems, psychological distress, and disinhibited sex-related alcohol expectancies on the effectiveness of women’s response performance in hypothetical social situations depicting risk for sexual victimization. Two hundred and forty-five undergraduate women first listened to audiotaped descriptions of the hypothetical social situations and imagined that they were the woman depicted in each scenario. They then were given a response to each situation deemed in prior work by experts in the sexual victimization research area to be effective at reducing risk for sexual victimization and asked to provide each response verbally while being videotaped. Participants then completed measures assessing prior victimization history, alcohol-related problems, psychological distress, and disinhibited sex-related alcohol expectancies. Experts in the sexual violence research area rated participants’ responses with respect to how effective each response was in decreasing their risk for having an unwanted sexual experience, defined as an experience in which the woman may be verbally or physically coerced into having a sexual contact of any kind with a man. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that disinhibited sex-related alcohol expectancies were associated positively with women’s response performance, indicating that women who endorsed greater disinhibited sex-related alcohol expectancies provided more effective responses to risky hypothetical situations. Findings suggest possible interventions aimed at reducing women’s risk of sexual victimization.

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

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 228-249 ◽  
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.

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

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 384-402 ◽  
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.

Ethnicity and Sexual Attitudes Affect Women’s Judgments of Sexual Victimization Risk

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer N. Crawford ◽  
Kari A. Leiting ◽  
Elizabeth A. Yeater ◽  
Steven P. Verney ◽  
Kathryn L. Lenberg
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Sexual Attitudes ◽  
Sexual Experience ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Indian Women ◽  
Undergraduate Women ◽  
Victimization Risk ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Victimization History ◽  
Hispanic White

This study evaluated the effects of ethnicity, sexual attitudes, and sexual victimization history on women’s judgments of sexual victimization risk in a set of dating and social scenarios. An ethnically diverse sample of undergraduate women ( n = 408) were asked to rate how risky the situations were in terms of having an unwanted sexual experience. American Indian women rated the situations as more risky than did non-Hispanic White or Hispanic women. In addition, participants with more positive attitudes toward a range of sexual experiences rated the situations as less risky than did women with less positive attitudes. Possible implications are discussed.

Sexual victimization history predicts academic performance in college women.

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 685-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majel R. Baker ◽  
Patricia A. Frazier ◽  
Christiaan Greer ◽  
Jacob A. Paulsen ◽  
Kelli Howard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
College Women ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Victimization History

scholarly journals Can Supportive Siblings Protect against the Risk that Stress from Feelings of Alienation with Parents and Peers Poses to Mental Health in Emerging Adulthood?

2021 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2199385
Author(s):  
Muna Osman ◽  
Dave Miranda
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Moderated Mediation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Moderated Mediation Model ◽  
Two Samples

Feelings of alienation with parents and peers can lead to psychological distress, possibly because such feelings are stressful. Supportive siblings are known to foster mental health in youth, but research in emerging adulthood is limited. We hypothesized supportive sibling climate as a protective factor in the risks that stress from parent and peer alienation poses to psychological distress among emerging adults. A proposed moderated-mediation model was tested, across three samples, using latent moderated mediation structural equation modeling. Results indicated that parental and peer alienation were associated with more psychological distress, and stress partially mediated the link between parental (but not peer) alienation and psychological distress in two samples. However, a supportive sibling climate was not protective as it did not moderate the links among alienation, stress, and psychological distress. In sum, siblings seem beneficial, but perhaps it is not sufficient to protect emerging adults’ mental health against stress from parent and peer alienation.

scholarly journals Perceived discrimination and psychological distress among immigrants to Canada: The mediating role of bicultural identity orientations

2021 ◽  
pp. 136843022199008
Author(s):  
Mustafa Firat ◽  
Kimberly A. Noels
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Perceived Discrimination ◽  
The Other ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Bicultural Identity ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
The Relationship

Bicultural identity orientations have rarely been examined in relation to both perceived discrimination and psychological distress. Furthermore, these constructs have usually been studied in isolation, but their intersection is essential for understanding intercultural relations in multicultural societies. Using cross-sectional data from 1,143 Canadian undergraduate students from immigrant families, this study explored the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological distress, and how bicultural identity orientations might mediate this relationship. The structural equation modeling results indicated that perceived discrimination was associated with higher levels of psychological distress and hybrid, monocultural, alternating, and conflicted orientations, but lower levels of complementary orientation. Alternating and conflicted orientations were related to higher psychological distress, whereas the other orientations were not. Alternating and conflicted orientations mediated the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological distress, whereas the other orientations did not. The findings are discussed in light of theories on identity integration, rejection–identification, and acculturation.

Drinking Motives as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Dating Violence Victimization and Alcohol Problems

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen E. Haynes ◽  
Catherine V. Strauss ◽  
Gregory L. Stuart ◽  
Ryan C. Shorey
Keyword(s):  
Dating Violence ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Alcohol Problems ◽  
Psychological Aggression ◽  
Drinking Motives ◽  
Social Conformity ◽  
Self Medication ◽  
Violence Victimization ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Alcohol Related Problems

The present study sought to examine whether drinking motives (i.e., coping, social, conformity, and enhancement) moderated the relationship between physical, sexual, and psychological dating violence victimization and alcohol-related problems in a sample of drinking college women ( N = 177). Results demonstrated that coping and social drinking motives moderated the relationship between sexual victimization and alcohol problems; conformity, social, and enhancement drinking motives moderated the relationship between alcohol-related problems and physical victimization; no significant findings were evident for psychological aggression victimization. Our results partially support the self-medication model of alcohol use, and this may be particularly relevant to sexual victimization.

Sexual Victimization History, Depression, and Task Physiology as Predictors of Sexual Revictimization

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 622-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan C. Waldron ◽  
Laura C. Wilson ◽  
Michelle A. Patriquin ◽  
Angela Scarpa
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Sexual Revictimization ◽  
Victimization History ◽  
And Task
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