Background predictors and event-specific characteristics of sexual aggression incidents: The roles of alcohol and other factors (original) (raw)
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Aggressive Behavior, 2006
Previous research findings have indicated that both alcohol intoxication and violent pornography exposure may contribute to increased sexual aggression by men. This study used an experimental paradigm to examine the effects of a moderate alcohol dose, alcohol-related beliefs, and victim response on men's self-reported likelihood of committing sexual aggression. A community sample of male social drinkers (N 5 84) participated in an experiment in which they read an eroticized rape depiction after completing an alcohol administration protocol. The stimulus story varied whether the victim, who initially expressed unwillingness to engage in sexual activity, expressed pleasure or distress in response to the man physically forcing her to perform several explicit sex acts. A path analytic model illustrated that participants' self-reported likelihood of behaving like the sexual aggressor in the story was directly related to their own sexual arousal. Heightened sexual arousal was reported by participants who had consumed alcohol, those who read the victim-pleasure story, and those who believed that drinking women are sexually vulnerable. Results suggest that sexual arousal to violent pornography, as influenced by acute alcohol intoxication and other factors, may be an important component of men's perceptions of their own sexual aggression likelihood. Aggr. Behav. 32:581-589, 2006.
Childhood Sexual Abuse and Acute Alcohol Effects on Men's Sexual Aggression Intentions
Psychology of violence, 2012
OBJECTIVE: Although research has established childhood sexual abuse (CSA) as a risk factor for men's perpetration of sexual aggression, there has been little investigation of the factors undergirding this association. This study represents one of the first to use a laboratory-based sexual aggression analogue coupled with an alcohol administration protocol to investigate the pathways through which CSA and alcohol influence men's self-reported sexual aggression intentions. METHOD: After completing background questionnaires, male social drinkers (N = 220) were randomly assigned to a control, placebo, low alcohol dose or high alcohol dose condition. Following beverage consumption, participants read a sexual scenario in which the female partner refused to have unprotected sexual intercourse, after which they completed dependent measures. RESULTS: Path analysis indicated that men with a CSA history and intoxicated men perceived the female character as more sexually aroused and rep...
Aggression and Violent Behavior, 2004
Approximately half of all sexual assaults are associated with either the perpetrator's alcohol consumption, the victim's alcohol consumption, or both. Although the emphasis of this review is on alcohol-involved sexual assaults, their unique aspects can only be evaluated by comparing them to other types of sexual assault. Theoretical perspectives on sexual assault that focus on characteristics of the perpetrator, the victim, and the situation are described. A number of personality traits, attitudes, and past experiences have been systematically linked to sexual assault perpetration, including beliefs about alcohol and heavy drinking. In contrast, only a few experiences have been significantly related to sexual assault victimization, including childhood sexual abuse and heavy drinking. There is support for both psychological and pharmacological mechanisms linking alcohol and sexual assault. Beliefs about alcohol's effects reinforce stereotypes about gender roles and can exacerbate their influence on perpetrators' actions. Alcohol's effects on cognitive and motor skills also contribute to sexual assault through their effects on perpetrators' and victims' ability to process and react to each other's verbal and nonverbal behavior. Limitations with existing research and methodological challenges associated with conducting research on this topic are described. Suggestions are made for future research which can inform prevention and treatment programs.
Risk factors for sexual aggression in young men: an expansion of the confluence model
Aggressive Behavior, 2011
There are many explanations for high rates of sexual aggression, with no one theory dominating the field. This study extends past research by evaluating an expanded version of the confluence model with a community sample. One hour audio computer-assisted self-interviews were completed by 470 young single men. Using structural equation analyses, delinquency, hostile masculinity, impersonal sex, and misperception of women's sexual cues were positively and directly associated with the number of sexually aggressive acts committed. There were also indirect effects of childhood victimization, personality traits associated with subclinical levels of psychopathy, and alcohol consumption. These findings demonstrate the usefulness of the confluence model, as well as the importance of broadening this theory to include additional constructs.
How Does Alcohol Contribute to Sexual Assault? Explanations from Laboratory and Survey Data
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2002
This article summarizes the proceedings of a symposium of the 2001 RSA Meeting in Montreal, Canada. The chair was Antonia Abbey and the organizers were Tina Zawacki and Philip O. Buck. There were four presentations and a discussant. The first presentation was made by Maria Testa whose interviews with sexual assault victims suggest that there may be differences in the characteristics of sexual assaults in which both the victim and perpetrator were using substances as compared to when only the perpetrator was using substances. The second presentation was made by Tina Zawacki whose research found that perpetrators of sexual assaults that involved alcohol were in most ways similar to perpetrators of sexual assaults that did not involve alcohol, although they differed on impulsivity and several alcohol measures. The third presentation was made by Kathleen Parks who described how alcohol consumption affected women's responses to a male confederate's behavior in a simulated bar setting. The fourth presentation was made by Jeanette Norris who found that alcohol and expectancies affected men's self-reported likelihood of acting like a hypothetical sexually aggressive man. Susan E. Martin discussed the implications of these studies and made suggestions for future research.
Do Drinking Episodes Contribute to Sexual Aggression Perpetration in College Men?
Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 2015
Survey and experimental analog studies suggest that alcohol consumption contributes to perpetration of sexual aggression. However, few studies have considered the temporal association between naturally occurring episodes of drinking and subsequent sexual aggression. This daily report study was designed to examine whether alcohol consumption increases the odds of aggressive sexual activity within the next 4 hours. Method: First-year male college students (N = 427) completed daily online reports of drinking and sexual activity for up to 56 days. Multilevel modeling was used to determine whether drinking episodes increased the odds of the following outcomes occurring within 4 hours: (a) aggressive sex with a new partner, (b) non-aggressive sex with a new partner, (c) aggressive sex with a previous partner, and (d) non-aggressive sex with a previous partner. Results: Drinking episodes increased the odds of both aggressive and non-aggressive sex with a new partner. In contrast, drinking episodes did not predict aggression involving previous partners and decreased the odds of non-aggressive sex with a previous partner. Contrary to hypotheses, individual difference variables associated with propensity toward sexual aggression (sexual misperception, antisocial behavior, hostility toward women) did not interact with daily alcohol. Conclusions: The complex pattern of results is more consistent with situational as opposed to pharmacological effects of alcohol on sexual aggression and suggests that prevention efforts focus on drinking contexts known to facilitate sexual activity.
American Journal on Addictions, 2014
Background and Objectives: Extant research shows a strong relationship between alcohol use problems and sexual aggression. However, less is known about the effect of intermediary factors (eg, alcohol expectations) that may increase the likelihood of and/or explain sexual aggression during alcohol‐related incidents. The present study examined alcohol outcome expectancies’ (OE) mediating and/or moderating influence on the relationship between problematic alcohol use severity and sexual aggression among male college students. Methods and Results: One hundred and forty eight (n¼148) male college students volunteered for the study. Seventy‐seven males selfreported committing at least one act of sexual aggression in their lifetime. Among those who sexually aggressed, 74% also reported symptoms of problematic drinking. Results show that sexuality related alcohol OE fully mediated the relationship between problematic alcohol use severity and sexual aggression. Results also showed that aggression‐related alcohol OE moderated the relationship between problematic alcohol use severity and sexual aggression. Specifically, aggression‐related alcohol OE only influenced the relationship between problematic alcohol use and sexual aggression when alcohol problems were less severe. Conclusions and Scientific Significance: Discussion implicates the possible role alcohol prevention may play in reducing sexual aggression on college campuses, particularly as it relates to adjusting alcohol OE among those most likely to perpetrate.
Sexual assaulters in the United States: prevalence and psychiatric correlates in a national sample.
Hoertel N, Le Strat Y, Schuster JP, Limosin F. Sexual assaulters in the United States: prevalence and psychiatric correlates in a national sample. Arch Sex Behav. 2012 Dec;41(6):1379-87. doi: 10.1007/s10508-012-9943-5.
This study presents sociodemographic characteristics and psychiatric correlates of a representative sample of sexual assaulters in the United States. Data were drawn from a nationally representative survey, the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Face-to-face interviews of more than 43,000 adults were conducted between the 2001-2002 period, based on the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule-DSM-IV Version. The prevalence of committing sexual assault in the U.S. was 0.15 %. Sexual assaulters had significantly lower education than their counterparts. Sexual assaulters were significantly more likely to report a wide range of antisocial behaviors. Multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated strong associations between sexual assault and lifetime psychiatric disorders often associated with impaired impulse control, such as antisocial personality disorder, conduct disorder, and cocaine use disorder. In addition, psychotic disorders were consistently associated with sexual assault. Our findings indicate that sexual assault could represent a behavioral manifestation of a broader spectrum, including impairment of impulse control and psychotic disorders.
Men’s Alcohol Intoxication and Condom Use During Sexual Assault Perpetration
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2012
We assessed the association between alcohol consumption and condom use during penetrative sexual assault acts perpetrated by young adult men. Men aged 21 to 35 who reported inconsistent condom use and heavy episodic drinking ( N = 225) completed a questionnaire assessing their perpetration of sexual assault since the age of 15, their consumption of alcohol prior to these acts, and their use of condoms during acts involving penetration. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s chi-square tests were used to examine the simultaneous use of alcohol and condom nonuse during penetrative sexual assault acts. More than one third of respondents reported perpetrating at least one penetrative sexual assault 35.6% ( n = 79). Condoms were not used in 70.0% of penetrative sexual assaults. When they had consumed alcohol, perpetrators were significantly less likely to use condoms. The sexual assaults reported by this sample typically consisted of perpetrator alcohol consumption and the nonuse of condom...
Measuring sexual aggression perpetration in college men: A comparison of two measures
Psychology of Violence, 2015
Objective-The present study was designed to provide a comparison of rates of self-reported sexual aggression perpetration obtained using two different measures-a version of the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES; Abbey et al, 2007; Koss, Gidycz, & Wisniewski, 1987) and the Sexual Strategies Scale (SSS, Strang, et al, 2013; Struckman-Johnson, Struckman-Johnson, & Anderson, 2003). We also examined the psychometric structure of each measure using Rasch model item analysis (Rasch, 1966). Method-Two equivalent cohorts of entering freshman males (N = 994 and N = 1043) from a large northeastern university completed online measures at the end of their first semester. Results-Identical proportions of men reported using intoxication strategies (3%) and physical force (1%) during the past semester on both measures. However, more men reported verbal strategies on the SSS (7.8%) compared with the SES (3.7%), even when restricting to equivalent items. Rasch analysis suggested that the SSS conformed better to a unidimensional continuum of perpetration severity than the SES; however, Rasch analysis did not provide definitive support for either a tactic-based (SSS) nor a tactic plus outcome-based (SES) hierarchy. Conclusions-Both measures functioned adequately. However, the SSS may be preferred for its better Rasch properties, better assessment of the less severe tactics, and simpler wording.