Rape Aggression Defense Course: Physical, Psychological, and Interpersonal Benefits Among Women With and Without Interpersonal Victimization Histories.

Women's self-defense training increases self-efficacy and reduces subsequent assaults, but self-defense training's effects on women's psychological and interpersonal functioning are understudied, particularly for women with histories of interpersonal victimization. This study examined the effects of a self-defense course on somatic symptoms, post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression, anxiety, interpersonal problems, and locus of control among women with and without interpersonal victimization histories and explored how women's disinhibition of their aggression during simulated attacks predicts changes in their symptoms and functioning. In all, 82 women reported their symptoms and functioning before participation and 6 weeks after participation in a university-based Rape Aggression Defense course. Among the whole sample, participation in the course led to significantly decreased posttraumatic stress, somatic, and hostility symptoms and problems with being too nonassertive, overly accommodating, and self-sacrificing. Women who reported interpersonal victimization histories (n = 49) did not differ in the degree of improvements when compared with women without interpersonal victimization histories (n = 33). Greater disinhibition during the simulation predicted less improvement in some symptoms; moderation analyses showed that this association occurred only among those women with high baseline anxiety or hostility. These findings highlight the value of self-defense training in improving the health of women, including posttraumatic stress symptoms and interpersonal functioning, regardless of women's history of interpersonal victimization. Results also suggest the importance of considering women's baseline symptoms in modulating the degree of aggression that is optimally expressed during training.

Associations Between Sexual Assault Severity and Psychological and Physical Health Outcomes: Similarities and Differences Among African American and Caucasian Survivors.

There are well-established associations between sexual assault victimization and deleterious psychological and physical health outcomes. The present study contributes to the emerging health disparities literature by examining similarities and differences in relationships between the severity of the sexual assault and health in a community sample of African American and Caucasian survivors. Although the overall pattern of relationships was expected to be comparable for all survivors, some associations were hypothesized to be stronger for African American survivors as compared with Caucasian survivors based on theories of chronic stress. Single, African American, and Caucasian women were recruited for a study of dating experiences through random digit dialing in one large metropolitan area. Participants who experienced a sexual assault since age 14 were included in this study (121 African American and 100 Caucasian women). Multigroup path analyses indicated that for both African American and Caucasian survivors, sexual assault severity was significantly positively associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and depressive symptoms were significantly positively associated with physical health symptoms. Among African American survivors, sexual assault severity affected physical health symptoms indirectly through its impact on depressive symptoms, and assault severity indirectly affected drinking problems through its impact on PTSD symptoms; these relationships were not found for Caucasian survivors. These findings highlight the need for additional research that focuses on health disparities in sexual assault survivors' recovery process, so that treatment programs address culturally relevant issues.

Partner Type Matters: Differences in Cross-Sectional Predictors of Men's Sexual Aggression in Casual and Steady Relationships.

Researchers rarely consider if different theoretical models are needed to understand the etiology of men's sexual aggression against women in steady as compared to casual relationships. A modified confluence model was evaluated with survey data from 556 young, single men. Hostile masculinity was the only assessed risk factor that had a direct relationship to sexual aggression against steady and casual partners. Impersonal sex and friends' approval of forced sex were directly related to sexual aggression against casual partners; whereas, heavy alcohol consumption was directly related to sexual aggression against steady partners. Psychopathy-related personality traits were indirectly related to both types of sexual aggression. The model explained a moderate amount of variance in casual date perpetration, but only a small amount of variance in steady date perpetration. Thus, more research and theory is needed to understand violence in this type of relationship.

Men Who Sexually Assault Drinking Women: Similarities and Differences With Men Who Sexually Assault Sober Women and Nonperpetrators.

Little is known about the attributes of men who sexually assault drinking women as compared with men who sexually assault sober women and nonperpetrators. Findings from a cross-sectional survey of 548 men and a laboratory computer-simulated date completed by a subset ( n = 87) support the hypothesis that both groups of perpetrators would share some common risk factors and differ regarding alcohol beliefs and consumption. Men who had previously assaulted a drinking woman gave their simulated date more alcohol to drink and perceived her as being more disinhibited. These findings demonstrate the power of alcohol expectancies and stereotypes about drinking women.

The effects of alcohol intoxication and sexual interest on men's sexual persistence and hostility in a dating simulation.

Perpetrators of sexual assault are often intoxicated; however, few experimental studies evaluate alcohol's "in the moment" effects on sexual aggression. This study extends past theory and research by examining the acute effects of alcohol on men's decisions about how to respond to sexual refusals in a dating simulation. Men (N = 62) ages 21-29 were randomly assigned to consume alcohol (target breath alcohol level 0.080%) or no alcohol. Participants were encouraged to talk to a simulated woman and act as they would on an actual date. They made choices from a list which included nonsexual and sexual options. The female agent was programmed to engage in some sexual activities but refuse others. Refusals became more intense if participants persisted. Negative binomial regression analysis was used to test a path analytic model. As predicted, participants' self-reported desire to have sex was positively associated with choosing more consensual sexual activities during the simulation (i.e., activities in which the woman willingly engaged). Consensual sexual activities were positively associated with the number of times participants persisted after the woman refused. Alcohol moderated this relationship such that it was stronger for intoxicated men than sober men. The more sexual refusals participants received, the more hostile verbal comments they made to the woman. Contrary to our predictions, this relationship was not moderated by alcohol condition. Because participants had multiple opportunities to escalate their aggression or desist, this paradigm provides new insights into the mechanisms through which intoxication enhances the likelihood of sexual aggression in dating situations.

Predicting Men's Immediate Reactions to a Simulated Date's Sexual Rejection: The Effects of Hostile Masculinity, Impersonal Sex, and Hostile Perceptions of the Woman.

OBJECTIVE: Aggression is a common response to many types of social rejection. Men who respond aggressively to a woman's sexual rejection are likely to score high on risk factors associated with sexual aggression and to convince themselves that she is at fault. This study investigated how sexual dominance motivation and casual sex attitudes interact with "in the moment" hostile perceptions of the woman to predict the likelihood of an aggressive response. METHOD: Male participants (N = 77) completed an online survey including self-report measures of sexual dominance motivation and casual sex attitudes. In a separate session, participants completed a laboratory study in which they interacted with a female agent in a dating simulation, allowing them to make nonsexual choices, sexual choices that were accepted, and sexual choices that were rejected. Immediate responses to sexual rejection were categorized as aggressive (n = 25) or nonaggressive (n = 52). After the simulation ended, participants answered questions about their perceptions of the situation and the woman. Moderated multiple logistic regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses. RESULTS: The hypothesized interactions were found such that men with high scores on sexual dominance motivation and positive attitudes about casual sex had a greater probability of responding aggressively when they formed extremely hostile perceptions of the woman who rejected them. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide insight into the processes by which men respond aggressively to women's refusals, and highlight the need for training that encourages benevolent attributions and nonviolent strategies to deal with sexual rejection.

Men's Responses to Women's Sexual Refusals: Development and Construct Validity of a Virtual Dating Simulation of Sexual Aggression.

OBJECTIVE: To provide evidence regarding the construct validity of a sexual aggression proxy in which male participants go on multiple virtual dates with a woman. A unique strength of this proxy is participants' opportunity to make choices throughout the simulation about how they interact with their virtual date. These decisions determine their exposure to the female agent's sexual refusals. METHOD: Piloting included focus groups (n = 82), surveys (n = 95), and cognitive interviews (n = 32). To establish construct validity, 87 male participants completed two separate sessions: 1) an online survey with measures of discriminant and convergent validity; and 2) a lab session in which they went on multiple dates that included nonsexual options, sexual options which the female agent accepted, and sexual options she refused. Sexual aggression was operationalized as the total number of sexual refusals that participants' received. RESULTS: There was strong correlational evidence for discriminant and convergent validity. As hypothesized, there were some differences in the risk factors associated with refusals received on casual as compared to steady dates. Additionally, the number of refusals received was associated with the types of thoughts and actions commonly reported by perpetrators. CONCLUSIONS: This simulation provides a new approach for examining sexual aggression in controlled experiments that vary factors within the simulation such as the man's and woman's intoxication and past sexual history. Because what happens is based on each individual's responses, it could be adapted for use in prevention and treatment programs.

Sexual Assault Perpetrators' Justifications for Their Actions: Relationships to Rape Supportive Attitudes, Incident Characteristics, and Future Perpetration.

Perpetrators use rape supportive attitudes and sexual assault incident characteristics to justify forcing sex on their victims. Perpetrators who can justify their behaviors are at increased risk for future perpetration. This study examined the relationships between rape supportive attitudes, sexual assault incident characteristics, and the post-assault justifications of 183 men sampled from the community who self-reported committing at least one act of sexual aggression. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that rape supportive attitudes, expectations for having sex, misperceptions of sexual intent, victims' alcohol consumption, attempts to be alone with her, and the number of consensual sexual activities prior to the unwanted sex were significant predictors of perpetrators' post-assault use of justifications. Greater use of justifications was a significant predictor of sexual aggression over a 1-year follow-up interval. These findings demonstrate the need for further research exploring when and why perpetrators use post-assault justifications and whether they are amenable to change.

Friends matter: protective and harmful aspects of male friendships associated with past-year sexual aggression in a community sample of young men.

OBJECTIVES: We extended past research on sexual violence etiology by examining the impact of perceived pressure to have sex by any means and the types of objectifying and egalitarian language that friends used when discussing women. METHODS: We examined a community sample of young single men interested in dating women (n = 423) who completed audio computer-assisted self-interviews at baseline (spring/summer 2008) and 1 year later (spring/summer 2009). We used hierarchical logistic regression analyses that controlled for baseline sexual aggression. RESULTS: Approximately one quarter of participants (n = 108) reported that they made a woman engage in some type of sexual activity during the past year when they knew she was unwilling or unable to consent. Past-year perpetrators perceived more pressure from their friends to have sex by any means, felt less comfortable with their friends making egalitarian statements about women, and used more objectifying statements when describing how their friends talked about women compared with nonperpetrators. Seventy-eight percent of men were correctly classified by these predictors. CONCLUSIONS: Men's discussions with each other about women could foster an environment that encourages or discourages sexual violence. We discussed future research and prevention implications.

Review of survey and experimental research that examines the relationship between alcohol consumption and men's sexual aggression perpetration.

This article systematically reviews empirical studies that examine associations between alcohol consumption and men's sexual aggression with the goal of identifying major findings; gaps in current knowledge; and directions for future research, practice, and policy. We identified 25 cross-sectional surveys, 6 prospective studies, and 12 alcohol administration experiments published between 1993 and August 2013 with male college students and young adult (nonincarcerated) samples. Many cross-sectional surveys have demonstrated that distal and proximal measures of men's alcohol consumption are positively associated with sexual assault perpetration, although very few of these studies evaluated how alcohol interacts with other risk and protective factors to exacerbate or inhibit sexual aggression. There are surprisingly few surveys that examine alcohol's effects at the event level and over short-time intervals to identify how changes in alcohol consumption are associated with changes in perpetration status. Alcohol administration studies suggest some important mechanisms that warrant additional investigation.

Adolescent and young adult male sex offenders: understanding the role of recidivism.

The current review explores the complex paths that can lead to adolescent and young adult males becoming sexually abusive. Because sexual abuse is an ongoing issue in our society that is often oversimplified, this article distinguishes between the various risk factors that predict sexually abusive behavior and types of sex offenders, particularly recidivistic offenders. It is imperative to focus on adolescents and young adults who sexually abuse because they represent a particularly important intervention point in preventing sexual abuse in comparison to older age groups and address the importance of differentiating among youths who sexually abuse, particularly between one-time offenders and recidivistic offenders. Implications for addressing these differences are discussed.