Peer sexual harassment, affect, and substance use: Daily level associations among adolescents

Abstract

Introduction Peer sexual harassment is associated with adolescent substance use at the global level; however, it is unknown whether substance use occurs proximal in time to the sexual harassment experience. This study used daily reports to examine the proximal relations between sexual harassment victimization and affect and substance use. Based on theories of self‐medication, we hypothesized that negative affect and substance use (cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana) would be higher than typical on days when sexual harassment occurred relative to nonvictimization days. Method A community sample of 13–16‐year‐old adolescents (N = 204, 55.4% female) from a metropolitan area in the northeastern United States completed 56 days of online reports assessing experiences with peer sexual harassment, substance use (cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana), and positive and negative affect. Results Multilevel modeling revealed that experiencing sexual harassment on a given day was associated with higher than typical negative affect on that day, relative to nonvictimization days. The likelihood of cigarette and alcohol use (but not electronic cigarettes, marijuana, or positive affect) was greater on days when sexual harassment occurred. Conclusion Sexual harassment victimization is proximally associated with negative affect and alcohol and cigarette use, suggesting that adolescents may be using substances to cope with sexual harassment victimization. The co‐occurrence of sexual harassment with negative affect and substance use points to the need for prevention efforts that conjointly address sexual harassment victimization, coping, and substance use.

Joint trajectories of bullying victimization and sexual harassment victimization as predictors of adolescent alcohol use.

“…Adolescents who experience sexual harassment also may be using alcohol to cope with negative affect resulting from the harassment. Daily level data collected from a subsample of adolescents from the present study revealed that experiencing sexual harassment was associated with same day sadness and alcohol use, suggesting that alcohol may be used as a coping mechanism; however, the temporal ordering within day could not be established (Livingston et al, 2022). There is also evidence from college samples showing that there are reciprocal effects with sexual harassment predicting negative affect and alcohol use, which in turn renders individuals vulnerable to future sexual harassment (Wolff et al, 2017).…”

Shifting perspectives: High school students' evaluations of a social norms campaign to reduce bullying and sexual harassment and promote helping behavior

“…Female students in particular welcomed the inclusion of sexual harassment as an intervention target and indicated that it occurred both inside and outside of school. Sexual harassment victimization has been linked prospectively with a variety of negative outcomes, including depression, eating disorders, substance use and increased risk for dating and sexual violence, underscoring the importance of preventing this form of peer aggression (Chiodo et al, 2009;Davis et al, 2018;Livingston et al, 2022Livingston et al, , 2023.…”

Prevalence of and Influential Factors for Waterpipe Smoking among School-Attending Adolescents in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

“…A wide range of research shows that experience of sexual violence and harassment in childhood is associated with a higher prevalence of smoking tobacco and other substance abuse [62][63][64][65][66]. In Africa, there is a shortage of studies exploring the association between whatever form of tobacco use and experience of sexual violence [67].…”