The Differential Risk Factors of Physically Forced and Alcohol- or Other Drug-Enabled Sexual Assault Among University Women

Abstract

The Campus Sexual Assault Study examined whether undergraduate women's victimization experiences prior to college and lifestyle activities during college were differentially associated with the type of sexual assault they experienced: physically forced sexual assault and incapacitated sexual assault. Self-reported data collected using a Web-based survey administered to more than 5,000 undergraduate women at two large public universities indicated that victimization experiences before college were differentially associated with the risk of experiencing these two types of sexual assault during college. Women who experienced forced sexual assault before college were at very high risk of experiencing forced sexual assault during college (odds ratio [OR] = 6.6). Women who experienced incapacitated sexual assault before college were also at very high risk of experiencing incapacitated sexual assault during college (OR = 3.7). Moreover, women's substance use behaviors during college, including getting drunk and using marijuana, were strongly associated with experiencing incapacitated sexual assault but were not associated with experiencing forced sexual assault. Implications for education and prevention programs, as well as future research directions, are discussed.

Intimate Partner Violence Victimization Among Undergraduate Women at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

“…However, Krebs, Lindquist, Warner, Fisher, and Martin (2009) estimated the prevalence of IPV among a sample of women attending two predominantly White colleges and universities in the CSA study. Although the time period and wording of the questions is slightly different from what was used in the current study, the comparison is striking.…”

The Sexual Assault of Undergraduate Women at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

“…The research methods used in the present study were also used to collect data on sexual assault from 5,446 undergraduate women at two non-HBCUs in 2005 and 2006. A response rate of 42% was achieved at the non-HBCUs, and comparisons are made in this article between the HBCU and non-HBCU women (Krebs et al, 2009a(Krebs et al, , 2009b.…”

“…There were larger percentages of seniors (28.3%) and juniors (24.6%) than freshmen (23.2%) and sophomores (20.8%) in the sample. Descriptive data on the non-HBCU sample can be found in other publications (Krebs et al, 2009a(Krebs et al, , 2009b.…”

“…Researchers have found that between one fifth and one quarter of college women are sexually assaulted during the course of their college careers (Fisher et al, 2000;Koss et al, 1987;Krebs, Lindquist, Warner, Fisher, & Martin, 2009a, 2009b. These data, however, come from studies of undergraduate women at traditionally White institutions.…”

Physically forced, alcohol-induced, and verbally coerced sexual victimization: Assessing risk factors among university women

“…In particular, self-blame, posttraumatic stress disorder, maladaptive adjustment, alcohol/drug-related coping strategies, and social withdrawal are all consequences of early victimization and similarly predict later adult revictimization (e.g., Krebs, Lindquist, Warner, Fisher, & Martin, 2009;Miller, Markman, & Handley, 2007). Some scholars have suggested that women with victimization histories are increasingly vulnerable to adult revictimization due to deficits in information processing, behavioral cue recognition, and less assertive response strategies when in sexually dangerous situations (Breitenbecher, 1999;Gidycz, McNamara, & Edwards, 2006;VanZileTamsen, Testa, & Livingston, 2005;Wilson et al, 1999).…”