NCJ Number
165891
Journal
Psychology of Women Quarterly Volume: 19 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1995) Pages: 31-48
Date Published
1995
Length
18 pages
Annotation
In this longitudinal study of college women, nine risk characteristics assessed prior to the start of college were examined in the effort to identify predictors of sexual victimization in college dating.
Abstract
A total of 100 women were monitored for 32 months, as the study obtained information on personal history, behaviors, and attitudes collected at Time 1 and information about subsequent sexual victimization collected at Time 2. Nine risk variables were measured with the 120-item Time 1 questionnaire: child sexual abuse, sexual victimization in dating that occurred prior to college, consensual sexual experience, alcohol use in dating, assertiveness, and four attitudinal scales. Examination of the Time 1 Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) showed that 38 percent of the participants had been sexually victimized in dating situations prior to entering college. Time 2 SES data revealed that 29 percent of the women had been sexually victimized in dating since entering college. To explore the relationships among the variables of interest, zero-order correlations were computed for all possible pairs of variables. Although four risk factors were significantly associated with victimization, a logistic regression analysis showed that the best prediction model contained only two variables; precollege sexual victimization in dating was positively correlated with college victimization, and sexual conservatism was negatively correlated with college victimization. The discussion focuses on the need for improved sex education for teenagers, prevention programs for students at the precollege level, and increased research and clinical attention to the phenomenon of revictimization. 1 table, 4 notes, and 38 references