Basile, K. C., Black, M. C., Simon, T. R., Arias, I., Brener, N. D., & Saltzman, L. E. (2006). The association between self-reported lifetime history of forced sexual intercourse and recent health-risk behaviors: Findings from the 2003 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Journal of Adolescent Health, 39, 752.e1-752.e7.

Key Points: In a nationally representative sample of 13,080 high school students, 1 in 8 girls and 1 in 16 boys reported a history of forced sexual intercourse. Female and male victims were more likely to also have experienced recent dating violence and engage in health risk behaviors compared to non-victims.

Abstract: This study used data from the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Students provided information on a range of health risk behaviors.  Both female and male victims of forced sex were more likely than non-victims to have been physically abused by a dating partner and to have considered or attempted suicide in the previous 12 months. Female and male victims were more likely to have engaged in recent unhealthy eating behaviors and substance abuse.  Because the survey asked about only one type of sexual violence (forced intercourse), it is likely that the rates of sexual victimization were higher than reported in the study. The researchers recommend increasing both primary and secondary prevention efforts to reduce the harm of sexual violence.

Topics: Adolescent/high school; prevalence; risk

Bletzer, K. V., & Koss, M. P. (2006). After-rape among three populations in the Southwest. Violence Against Women, 12, 5-29.

Key Points: While women’s experience of surviving rape is similar across cultural and ethnic backgrounds, differences in their descriptions of the event may guide primary and secondary intervention strategies.

Abstract: The way a person describes an experience can give insight to the meaning of the event in their life. This study included analysis of life narratives by 62 female sexual violence survivors from three ethnic/cultural groups of the Southwest: Mexican American, Native American (Southern Cheyenne), and  Anglo. All the women were low income, and the mean age of each group was about 35 years.

Most of the women knew the perpetrator. Women in all groups described their feelings after rape as anger, defilement, and degradation. Few women reported the rape to police or talked to a mental health worker. When describing their long-term strategy for dealing with the rape, Anglo women were more likely to discuss taking control or leaving the memory of the event behind them. Native American women talked more about forgetting the incident or blocking it out. Mexican American women were less likely to describe active efforts to return to a “normal” life and talked more about the continuing effects of the rape on their lives. All of the women described difficulty in interpersonal relationships and in trusting men.

The researchers recommended designing post-rape interventions that are sensitive to differences in sociocultural backgrounds, and educating community members to support survivors. 

Topics: Racial/ethnic differences; survivors

Messman-Moore, T. L. & Brown, A. L. (2006). Risk perception, rape, and sexual revictimization: A prospective study of college women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 159-172.

Key Points: Delayed responses to a hypothetical acquaintance rape scenario increased college women’s risks for rape and revictimization during an 8 month follow-up period.

Abstract: In this longitudinal study, 262 women completed a series of questionnaires four times over eight months. Rates of sexual victimization and rape experienced by participants were assessed over time. At baseline, 56.8% of the women had already experienced some form of sexual victimization in their lifetime.
Participants were asked to read two scenarios ending in rape, one involving a male acquaintance and the other a male stranger (scenarios are presented in the Appendix).  Women indicated at what point during the scenario they would feel uncomfortable and when they would leave the situation.

During the eight month follow-up period, 43.4% of participants reported some type of unwanted sexual experience, and 10% of the women were raped. Prior victimization and delayed risk response (i.e., leaving the hypothetical situation later in the scenario) were associated with increased likelihood of sexual victimization during the course of the study. 

The researchers recommended that prevention programs place more emphasis on risk-reduction behaviors rather than risk identification, and that acquaintance rape scenarios should be used more than stranger rape scenarios in sexual violence education programs.

Topics: College; prevalence; risk

Wolak, J., Mitchell, K., & Finkelhor, D. (2007). Unwanted and wanted exposure to online pornography in a national sample of young Internet users. Pediatrics, 119, 247-257.

Key Points: A survey of Internet users aged 10-17 found that 42% had seen pornography online during the previous year, and 66% of those exposures were unwanted.

Abstract: The 2005 Youth Internet Safety Survey conducted phone interviews with 1,422 youth to measure exposure to online pornography during the previous year and the characteristics of those most at risk of being exposed.

Online pornography was defined as pictures on a website or as a downloaded image of naked people or people having sex. Youth were divided into three groups: those with wanted exposure (they wanted to see the image); unwanted exposure (they did not want to see the image); and those with both types of exposures. Youth were also asked about how they used the Internet. 

The only type of Internet use related to unwanted exposure was the use of file-sharing programs to download images. More than half of all boys 14-15 years old and two-thirds of 16-17 year olds had some exposure to online pornography. As boys aged, they were more likely to want exposure than not. Among girls, wanted exposure increased slightly with age but unwanted exposure strongly increased. Depressed youth were slightly more likely to be exposed to wanted and unwanted pornography.

Filtering, blocking, or monitoring software and law enforcement presentations reduced unwanted exposure to online pornography.

Topics: Adolescent/high school; media/internet

Updated 08/01/07