Personality and Perpetration: Narcissism Among College Sexual Assault Perpetrators.

Theory and research suggest that narcissism plays an important role in perpetration of sexual aggression. As narcissism is a multidimensional construct, our objective was to clarify the relation between perpetration and three aspects of narcissism. College men (N = 234) completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) subscale of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders-II (SCID-N) Personality Questionnaire, and Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale (HSNS). Perpetrators had higher scores on NPD traits, which were also associated with frequent perpetration. HSNS scores were only associated with perpetration via alcohol and/or drugs. Only the maladaptive facets of NPI narcissism correlated with perpetration. Narcissism seems to have been understudied in nonincarcerated perpetrators.

Impulsivity and sexual assault in college men.

Although impulsivity has been consistently linked to perpetration of sexual aggression, results lack clarity because they do not account for the substantial heterogeneity associated with the construct. The UPPS-P model (Lynam, Smith, Whiteside, & Cyders, 2006), which was proposed to clarify the multidimensional nature of impulsivity, has yet to be applied to sexual aggression. We measured UPPS-P Impulsivity in a sample of male college students who also self-reported on perpetration of sexual aggression. As predicted, impulsivity distinguished perpetrators from nonperpetrators. Perpetrators scored higher than non-perpetrators on Negative Urgency, Positive Urgency, and lack of Premeditation. Results suggest that the impulsivity traits most relevant to sexual aggression are the tendency to act impulsively when experiencing intense emotions (Positive and Negative Urgency) and lack of forethought and planning (lack of Premeditation).

Predictors of victim-perpetrator relationship stability following a sexual assault: a brief report.

The researchers assessed the predictors of victim-perpetrator relationship stability following a sexual assault. Participants included 254 women sexually assaulted by a friend, casual dating partner, or steady dating partner. Results suggested that most victim-perpetrator relationships (75%) continued following the sexual assault. Greater trauma symptomatology, less perpetrator blame, and nondisclosure of the assault by victims predicted relationship continuation with the perpetrator. Additionally, the odds of continuing the relationship were greater following acts of sexual coercion than following acts of completed rape. Close relationships (steady dating partner) were more likely to continue following the sexual assault than less close relationships (friends and casual dating partners). Unexpectedly, the odds of relationship stability were greater for women without histories of childhood sexual abuse than women with histories of childhood sexual abuse. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed.

A prospective study of sexual assault and alcohol use among first-year college women.

This study prospectively examined the relation between alcohol use and sexual assault in a sample (N = 319) of first-year college women. Both frequency of drinking and frequency of binge drinking were measured. Over the course of their freshman year, 19.3% reported experiencing at least one sexual assault. Frequent binge drinking and frequent drinking predicted a subsequent sexual assault; however, experiencing a sexual assault did not predict changes in alcohol use. Frequent binge drinking demonstrated a stronger association with sexual assault than did frequent drinking. Findings help clarify the relation between alcohol use and sexual assault in college women and call for continued differentiation in assessment of alcohol use.

The mediating role of trauma-related symptoms in the relationship between sexual victimization and physical health symptomatology in undergraduate women.

Previous research suggests that posttraumatic stress symptomatology is a partial mediator of the relationship between sexual assault history in adolescence/adulthood and physical health symptomatology (e.g., Eadie, Runtz, & Spencer-Rodgers, 2008). The current study assessed a broader, more inclusive potential mediator, trauma-related symptoms in the relationship between sexual victimization history (including both childhood and adolescent/adulthood sexual victimizations) and physical health symptomatology in a college sample. Participants were 970 young women (M = 18.69, SD = 1.01), who identified mostly as Caucasian (86.7%), from 2 universities who completed a survey packet. Path analysis results provide evidence for trauma-related symptoms as a mediator in the relationship between adolescent/adulthood sexual assault and physical health symptomatology, χ(2) (1, N = 970) = 1.55, p = .21; comparative fit index = 1.00; Tucker-Lewis index = 0.99; root mean square error of approximation = .02, 90% confidence interval [.00, .09], Bollen-Stine bootstrap statistic, p = .29. Childhood sexual abuse was not related to physical health symptomatology, but did predict trauma-related symptoms. Implications of these findings suggest that college health services would benefit from targeted integration of psychiatric and medical services for sexual assault survivors given the overlap of psychological and physical symptoms.

Effects of participation in a sexual assault risk reduction program on psychological distress following revictimization.

The current study followed women who participated in a sexual assault risk reduction program and a wait-list control group for 4 months. Those women in both groups who reported being revictimized (N = 147) were assessed to determine the effect of program participation on psychological distress. Intervention group participants reported a significant reduction in both psychological distress and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms at follow-up relative to wait-list control participants, even after controlling for frequency of revictimization. Significantly fewer intervention participants met criteria for PTSD from Time 1 to Time 2. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated frequency and severity of victimization and behavioral and characterological self-blame, and use of avoidance coping explained a significant amount of the variance in distress following revictimization. Implications for future research and risk reduction programs are discussed.

Sexual revictimization and interpersonal effectiveness.

This study utilized a cross-sectional design in order to explore the relationship between interpersonal effectiveness, defined as level of assertiveness, social perception, and perceived self-efficacy, and repeated sexual victimization in adolescence and adulthood. In addition, we compared global versus situation-specific measures of interpersonal effectiveness. Results indicated that global measures of interpersonal effectiveness failed to differentiate victim groups, and there were also no group differences in social perception. However, on situation-specific measures, revictimized women were significantly lower than nonvictims on sexual assertiveness and sexual self-efficacy. These results support the hypothesis that interpersonal functioning is related to sexual revictimization and highlight the need to measure interpersonal functioning specifically in sexual situations as it relates to women's sexual assault history.

Disclosure of sexual victimization: the effects of Pennebaker's emotional disclosure paradigm on physical and psychological distress.

Research suggests that many sexual assault survivors do not disclose their experience, which may increase associated distress. Pennebaker's emotional disclosure paradigm has been shown to ameliorate psychological and physical distress in individuals exposed to stressful events. The current study assessed the effectiveness of this paradigm with sexual assault survivors (N = 74). College women with a history of sexual assault wrote about their most severe victimization or about how they spend their time (control). Then 73 women (98.6%) completed a 1-month follow-up assessment. Results indicated that across writing sessions, the disclosure group reported greater reductions in negative mood immediately post-writing. However, both groups showed significant reductions in physical complaints, psychological distress, and traumatic stress symptoms at the 1-month follow-up, suggesting no added benefit to disclosure of a sexual assault using a brief written paradigm.

Binge drinking and rape: a prospective examination of college women with a history of previous sexual victimization.

The current study prospectively examined the longitudinal relationships between binge drinking behavior and rape experiences among a multisite sample of college women with a history of prior attempted or completed rape (N = 228). Rates of binge drinking among this high-risk sample were high. Prospective analyses indicated that binge drinking significantly increased risk for subsequent rape. Monthly binge drinkers were significantly more likely to experience alcohol-involved rape than forcible rape at follow-up. Only prior binge drinking, and not type of rape experience, predicted subsequent binge drinking. Findings have direct implications for targeted programming addressing combined risks for binge drinking and rape among college women.

Faulty perceptions? The impact of binge drinking history on college women's perceived rape resistance efficacy.

College women who binge drink are at greater risk than their peers for experiencing an alcohol-involved rape. Evidence suggests that these women commonly underestimate their risk for assault. This study examines college women's perceptions of their rape resistance efficacy in two acquaintance rape scenarios (one involving the woman's alcohol consumption and one not) as a function of their binge drinking and alcohol-involved rape history. Alcohol-involved rape was inversely associated only with efficacy in situations involving alcohol. Binge drinking was differentially predictive of efficacy in the two scenarios, with regular binge drinkers being significantly more likely to have high perceived efficacy in rape scenarios in which they were drinking and significantly less likely than their peers to have high perceived efficacy in rape scenarios in which they weren't drinking. Findings have direct implications for both college drinking and rape risk reduction interventions, highlighting the need to address women's minimization of alcohol's impact on their rape resistance ability.

Predictors of graduate student attitudes toward prescription privileges for psychologists.

The issue of gaining prescription privileges and its potential impact on the field of clinical psychology has special relevance for graduate students. This study was designed to investigate clinical graduate students' attitudes toward prescription authority, identify salient variables that contribute to these attitudes, and ascertain preferred models of training. Only 42.5% of respondents personally desired to obtain prescription privilege, although 61.8% of respondents favored efforts of the American Psychological Association to acquire prescription authority. Proponents and opponents were compared on their ratings of positive and negative aspects of the debate. There was strong agreement that the training should not be predoctoral and that it should lead to board certification. The strongest predictors of graduate students' attitudes were concerns about fundamental change to the field, malpractice premiums, and whether they considered it a logical extension of the field. This study provides a framework for understanding important factors influencing the decision-making process among clinical psychology graduate students.

A preliminary investigation of alcohol use during trauma and peritraumatic reactions in female sexual assault victims.

The purpose of these analyses was to investigate the association between reported alcohol use during a sexual assault and perceptions of assault severity and physical and emotional peritraumatic reactions. Self-report data were collected on 57 sexually assaulted college women. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that perception of assault severity mediated the relationship between alcohol use and peritraumatic physical reactions.