The Use of Drinking and Sexual Assault Protective Behavioral Strategies: Associations With Sexual Victimization and Revictimization Among College Women

Despite consistent high rates of campus sexual assault, little research has examined effective strategies to decrease sexual assault victimization. Sexual assault and drinking protective behavioral strategies (PBS) may be important means of reducing sexual assault victimization risk on college campuses but need further examination. 

The current study examined the relationship among sexual assault in childhood, before college, and since college to evaluate the mitigating roles of both sexual assault PBS and drinking PBS on sexual assault victimization. 

Participants (n = 620) were undergraduate women, 18 to 20 years old. The current study was a cross-sectional online survey assessing participants’ sexual assault PBS and sexual assault history. Sexual assault history was positively associated with future sexual assault experiences. Pre-college sexual assault was associated with increased since-college sexual assault and increased drinks per week. Since-college adolescent/adult sexual assault was associated with less use of sexual assault PBS. 

These findings suggest that PBS may have an important role in sexual assault victimization and future research should examine their usefulness in risk reduction programs for college women.

Via:  http://ht.ly/S0Mlf

By: Neilson EC1, Gilmore AK2, Pinsky HT3, Shepard ME3, Lewis MA3, George WH3.

• 1University of Washington, Seattle, USA 
• 2University of Washington, Seattle, USA VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA.
• 3University of Washington, Seattle, USA.