Yes, It’s that Common and Yes, It’s that Bad: An Estimation of the Prevalence and Psychological Correlates of Rape and Sexual Assault in College Women

Abstract

Rape myths play a role in rape denialism, in which individuals deny the prevalence and severity of sexual assault. This project aimed to address two common rape myths: that rape is uncommon and its effects are exaggerated. To test these claims, we explored two archival samples consisting of undergraduate women. Study 1, a 5-year chart review of university counseling center intake forms ( n = 883), demonstrated that 30.2% of clients had experienced “sexual violence,” “sexual contact without consent,” or both. Study 2, a re-analysis of an emerging adulthood resilience survey dataset ( n = 359), demonstrated that 20.6% of subjects had a history of sexual assault, and that those women reported lower life satisfaction and more severe psychological symptoms than those who did not. These findings are in line with previous literature debunking harmful rape myths that contribute to the perpetuation of rape culture. Our data help validate these rape notions as mythical; rape is indeed common and devastating.

Trauma resilience on campus: The moderating effect of developmental assets in the link between trauma exposure and posttraumatic symptomatology in college emerging adults.

“…Regarding racial/ethnic identity, the sample included 383 white students (72.8%), 55 Asian or Asian American students (10.5%), 24 Black, African, or African American students ). As this project was part of a larger study on positive development in college/university settings, the sampling and other methodological considerations are also described elsewhere (Pashak et al, 2020;Trierweiler et al, 2022).…”

“…Regarding year in school, the sample included 260 first-year students (49.4%), 141 sophomores (26.8%), 68 juniors (12.9%), 49 seniors (9.3%), and 8 students in their fifth year or beyond (1.5%). As this project was part of a larger study on positive development in college/university settings, the sampling and other methodological considerations are also described elsewhere (Pashak et al, 2020; Trierweiler et al, 2022).…”