If It Wasn’t Rape, Was It Sexual Assault? Comparing Rape and Sexual Assault Acknowledgment in College Women Who Have Experienced Rape

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (14) ◽  
pp. 1718-1738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sapana D. Donde ◽  
Sally K. A. Ragsdale ◽  
Mary P. Koss ◽  
Alyssa N. Zucker
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
College Women ◽  
Logistic Model ◽  
Emotional Impact ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Model ◽  
Rape Acknowledgment ◽  
University Settings

The present study investigated (a) comparisons in rates of rape and sexual assault acknowledgment and (b) a comprehensive multivariate multinomial logistic model predicting rape and sexual assault acknowledgment in a sample of 174 college women who had experienced rape. Significantly more women acknowledged having experienced sexual assault than rape. Greater perceived perpetrator force was associated with increased likelihood of rape and sexual assault acknowledgment. Increased age and greater perceived emotional impact were associated with increased odds of rape acknowledgment. Implications for policy, education, and practice within university settings are discussed.

scholarly journals Predictors of Assertive and Non-Assertive Styles of Self-Defense Behavior During a Lab-based Sexual Assault Scenario

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
RaeAnn Anderson ◽  
Shawn P Cahill ◽  
Kristin E. Silver ◽  
Douglas L. Delahanty
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
College Women ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Coping Style ◽  
Interpersonal Skills ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Defense Behavior ◽  
Self Defense ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rape Acknowledgment

The current study examined how psychological factors influence hypothetical behavioral responses to threat (BRTT). College women (n = 113) with a history of sexual victimization completed a standardized lab-based self-defense scenario. Interpersonal skills, coping style, and assertive and non-assertive BRTT during a prior assault predicted assertive BRTT during the task. The use of non-assertive BRTT during past assaults no longer predicted assertive BRTT during the task when accounting for rape acknowledgment. Findings regarding rape acknowledgment demonstrate the complexity of recovery from sexual assault. Our results highlight interpersonal skills as an intervention target for innovative sexual assault risk reduction interventions.

scholarly journals Predictors of Assertive and Nonassertive Styles of Self-Defense Behavior During a Lab-Based Sexual Assault Scenario

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-65
Author(s):  
RaeAnn E. Anderson ◽  
Shawn P. Cahill ◽  
Kristin E. Silver ◽  
Douglas L. Delahanty
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
College Women ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Coping Style ◽  
Interpersonal Skills ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Defense Behavior ◽  
Self Defense ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rape Acknowledgment

The current study examined how psychological factors influence hypothetical behavioral responses to threat (BRTT). College women ( n = 113) with a history of sexual victimization completed a standardized lab-based self-defense scenario. Interpersonal skills, coping style, and assertive and nonassertive BRTT during a prior assault predicted assertive BRTT during the task. The use of nonassertive BRTT during past assaults no longer predicted assertive BRTT during the task when accounting for rape acknowledgment. Findings regarding rape acknowledgment demonstrate the complexity of recovery from sexual assault. Our results highlight interpersonal skills as an intervention target for innovative sexual assault risk reduction interventions.

scholarly journals “I’ve Never Told Anyone”: A Qualitative Analysis of Interviews With College Women Who Experienced Sexual Assault and Remained Silent

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110227
Author(s):  
Sandra L. Caron ◽  
Deborah Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
College Women ◽  
Women Survivors ◽  
Systematic Investigation ◽  
Depth Interviews

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the decision made by some college women who are raped to tell no one. In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 college women between the ages of 19-24 who had never shared their sexual assault with anyone prior to speaking to the researchers. This study provides a systematic investigation of the factors underlying women’s decisions to remain silent. The knowledge and understanding gained from these in-depth interviews offer insight for individuals and institutions to support these students and for the development of future efforts encouraging women survivors to tell someone.

Measurement Invariance of the Sexual Assault Script Scale (SASS): An Examination Among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White College Women

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052098549
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Yeater ◽  
Kristen N. Vitek ◽  
Ryan S. Ross ◽  
Meredith Blackwell ◽  
Katie Witkiewitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
College Women ◽  
Measurement Invariance ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Bisexual Women ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Hispanic White ◽  
White College

Rates of sexual victimization have remained steady over several decades, and preventative interventions to reduce men’s sexually aggressive behavior have been largely ineffective. As such, research has endeavored to find novel approaches to identify women at increased risk for sexual victimization. Sexual assault scripts, or “cognitive models” that women adhere to that guide their beliefs about sexual assault are posited to influence their victimization risk. Prior studies on sexual assault scripts primarily have been qualitative in nature; however, recent work yielded a 27-item measure of putative risk for sexual victimization called the Sexual Assault Script Scale (SASS). The SASS has four subscales called Stereotypical Assault Scripts, Acquaintance Assault Scripts, Assault Resistance Scripts, and Date/Friend Assault Scripts, which were found in prior work to be internally consistent and associated with putative risk factors for sexual victimization. The focus of the current study was to test the measurement invariance of the SASS among Hispanic and non-Hispanic White college women who were recruited in the prior study. Four hundred sixty-nine ( N = 469) Hispanic and 415 non-Hispanic White US undergraduate heterosexual or bisexual women from a Southwestern university in the United States completed the SASS. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) replicated the prior four-factor model with an acceptable fit to the data, and tests of measurement invariance revealed the SASS to be invariant across Hispanic and non-Hispanic White college women, suggesting that the SASS is measuring a similar construct in these groups.

College Women and Sexual Assault: The Role of Sex-related Alcohol Expectancies

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 341-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda J. Benson ◽  
Carol L. Gohm ◽  
Alan M. Gross
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
College Women ◽  
Alcohol Expectancies

Initial efficacy of a web-based alcohol and emotion regulation intervention for college women with sexual assault histories.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia A. Stappenbeck ◽  
Natasha K. Gulati ◽  
Anna E. Jaffe ◽  
Jessica A. Blayney ◽  
Debra Kaysen
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
College Women ◽  
Web Based

scholarly journals Rural Households’ Poverty and Relocation and Settlement: Evidence from Western China

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (14) ◽  
pp. 2609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Liu ◽  
Jie Xu ◽  
Jie Li ◽  
Shuzhuo Li
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Model ◽  
Rural Households ◽  
Western China ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Model ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Chronic Poverty ◽  
Southern Shaanxi ◽  
Transient Poverty

Based on survey data collected from five counties across southern Shaanxi, China, the present study employs a multinomial logistic model to explore the main factors related to the type of poverty of rural households, particularly focusing on the role of relocation time, reason for relocation, and type of relocation. The results showed that three types of poverty, “voluntary poverty”, “transient poverty”, and “chronic poverty”, are distinguished by combining income and consumption criteria. Moreover, relocation and settlement programs contribute to a certain degree to these three kinds of poverty, and the effects vary according to the relocation characteristics. Specifically, those relocated long-term were more likely to be trapped in “voluntary poverty” and “chronic poverty”, whereas those relocated short-term were less likely to fall into “voluntary poverty” and “transient poverty”. The poverty alleviation and disaster-related resettlers were less likely to be trapped in “chronic poverty”, whereas centralized resettlers were less likely to be trapped in “voluntary poverty” and “chronic poverty”. Additionally, demographic characteristics, capital endowment variables, and geographical features are all important factors affecting rural households’ type of poverty. This study can serve as a reference for further resettlement practice in China and other developing countries.

scholarly journals Believe #metoo: sexual violence and interpersonal disclosure experiences among women attending a sexual assault service in Australia: a mixed-methods study

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. e026773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Rees ◽  
Lisa Simpson ◽  
Clare A McCormack ◽  
Batool Moussa ◽  
Sue Amanatidis
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Mental Disorder ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Emotional Impact ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress

ObjectivesSexual abuse is a strong predictor of future psychiatric problems. A more nuanced qualitative understanding of mental health outcomes, in the context of interpersonal responses from family members towards survivors after sexual abuse, may help to better inform prevention and interventions.DesignA mixed-methods approach included a qualitative timeline method to map and identify contextual factors and mediating emotional responses associated with mental disorder following sexual abuse.SettingParticipants were adult survivors of sexual abuse, seeking support from the Sexual Assault Counselling Service, Sydney Local Health District, Australia.ParticipantsThirty women 18 years and older with current or past mental disorder or symptoms were interviewed between August 2015 and May 2016.Outcome measuresA qualitative timeline interview and the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI, 5.5.0) were applied.ResultsThe MINI prevalence of current post-traumatic stress disorder was 96.6% (n=28) and of major depressive disorder was 82.8% (n=24). More than half (53%) reported suicidal ideation at some time in their lives. Women exposed to childhood sexual abuse reported being ignored, not believed, or threatened with retribution on disclosing the abuse to others, usually adult family members, at or close to the time of the violation(s). Participants described experiences of self-blame, betrayal, and psychosocial vulnerability as being the responses that connected negative disclosure experiences with mental disorder. Participant accounts suggest that these reactions created the foundations for both immediate and long-term adverse psychological outcomes.ConclusionA more in-depth understanding of the type and emotional impact of negative responses to disclosure by parents and other family members, and the barriers to adequate support, validation and trust, may inform strategies to avert much of the longer-term emotional difficulties and risks that survivors encounter following childhood abuse experiences. These issues should receive closer attention in research, policy, and practice.

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