NCJ Number
219730
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 22 Issue: 6 Dated: August 2007 Pages: 341-351
Date Published
August 2007
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study examined the associations among alcoholic beverage consumption, expectancies regarding the influence of alcohol on sexual behavior, and sexual assaults of women college students.
Abstract
Twenty-one percent of the 350 women involved in the study had been victims of an attempted rape, and 13 percent had been victims of completed rape. Women with a history of attempted rape and rape reported drinking significantly more alcohol on average compared with women who had no history of sexual assault. This finding is consistent with other research that found rape completion is positively linked with victim alcohol consumption at the time of the assault (Abbey et al., 2003). Increased intoxication has been associated with decreases in women's ability to communicate assertively and to use physical defenses. The study also found that higher levels of alcohol consumption were associated with the women's beliefs that alcohol enhances sex drive, sexual affect, and vulnerability to sexual coercion. It is possible that a woman who believes that alcohol will reduce her anxiety, improve her sex drive, and/or enhance a sexual experience may be motivated to drink alcohol in an attempt to achieve these positive effects, thus leading to increased alcohol consumption. At higher levels of alcohol consumption, women who endorsed high vulnerability to sexual coercion experienced more severe victimization. Implications of these findings are discussed. The women completed measures of sexual behaviors, sexual victimization experiences, sex-related alcohol expectancies, and drinking habits. Based on participants' responses, women were categorized as having experienced no sexual assault, unwanted sexual contact, sexual coercion, attempted rape, and rape. 3 tables, 1 figure, and 45 references