Rape Myth Acceptance in Sexually Assaulted Adolescents' School Contexts: Associations with Depressed Mood and Alcohol Use

Abstract

High school students exposed to sexual assault (SA) are at risk for negative outcomes like depressed mood and high-risk drinking. Although evidence suggests that both social contexts and internalized stigma can affect recovery from SA, no research to date has directly examined the presence of stigma in social contexts such as high schools as a correlate of adjustment after SA. In the current study, the self-reported rape myth acceptance (RMA) of 3080 students from 97 grade cohorts in 25 high schools was used to calculate grade-mean and school-mean RMA, which was entered into multilevel models predicting depressed mood and alcohol use among N = 263 SA survivors within those schools. Two forms of RMA were assessed: rape denial and gendered expectations. Results indicate that higher grade-mean rape denial was associated with higher risk for depressed mood among high school boys and girls exposed to SA, and higher grade-mean traditional gender expectations was associated with higher risk for alcohol use among girls exposed to SA. Survivors’ own RMA and school-level RMA were not significantly associated with their depressed mood or alcohol use. Although causality cannot be concluded, these findings suggest that interventions that reduce stigma in social contexts should be explored further as a strategy to improve well-being among high-school-aged survivors of SA.

Beyond the Rape “Victim”–“Survivor” Binary: How Race, Gender, and Identity Processes Interact to Shape Distress

“…Men are less likely than women to disclose sexual assault, but when they do, they receive less support than women (Allen, Ridgeway, and Swan ; Donnelly and Kenyon ). Gender expectations and rape myths silence and distress survivors of any gender (Dworkin et al ). However, rape myths specific to men suggest, because of their strength, they cannot be assaulted (especially when the offender is a woman); that “a man can enjoy sex even if it is being forced upon him”; and that men are not as deeply affected by sexual assault as women (Kassing :169; Melanson ).…”

For the Good of the Group? Balancing Individual and Collective Risks and Benefits in Community Psychology Research

“…After sexual assault, survivors’ peer networks comprise their main sources of support (Ullman, ). These networks are of particular importance because they can communicate norms about sexual assault and affect help‐seeking decisions (Dworkin, Pittenger, & Allen, ; Dworkin, Sessarego, Pittenger, Edwards, & Banyard, ). However, the ways that various characteristics of these networks can influence sexual assault survivors’ post‐assault experiences remain largely unexamined.…”

Development and Validation of the Teen Dating Aggression Measure Among Canadian Youth

“…For example, experiencing physical or verbal TDV is associated with recent alcohol and marijuana use (e.g., Parker et al, 2016 ). Moreover, adolescents who have been exposed to sexual assault have differential perceptions of rape myth acceptance, which refers to a stigmatic set of beliefs that victims are at fault for their assault or exposure to dating violence (e.g., Edwards et al, 2011 ; Dworkin et al, 2017 ). Subscales of rape myth acceptance include rape denial, which refers to attitudes reflective of victim-blaming or not believing rape victims, and traditional gender expectations, which represent typical roles of men and women in relationships ( Dworkin et al, 2017 ).…”

“…Moreover, adolescents who have been exposed to sexual assault have differential perceptions of rape myth acceptance, which refers to a stigmatic set of beliefs that victims are at fault for their assault or exposure to dating violence (e.g., Edwards et al, 2011 ; Dworkin et al, 2017 ). Subscales of rape myth acceptance include rape denial, which refers to attitudes reflective of victim-blaming or not believing rape victims, and traditional gender expectations, which represent typical roles of men and women in relationships ( Dworkin et al, 2017 ). In Dworkin et al (2017) , positive associations between the two rape myth acceptance subscales and each of depressed mood and alcohol use among a sample of adolescents were evident.…”

“…Subscales of rape myth acceptance include rape denial, which refers to attitudes reflective of victim-blaming or not believing rape victims, and traditional gender expectations, which represent typical roles of men and women in relationships ( Dworkin et al, 2017 ). In Dworkin et al (2017) , positive associations between the two rape myth acceptance subscales and each of depressed mood and alcohol use among a sample of adolescents were evident. More broadly, positive associations were observed between rape myth acceptance as an overall measure and sexual dating aggression ( Reyes and Foshee, 2013 ).…”