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Sexual assault and dating violence among adolescents is a critical matter with potential life threatening consequences. Adolescence is a difficult stage in which personal choices (whether good or bad) can determine future lifetime successes or failures. This problem is of great concern to parents, educators and the community at-large in the United States. Among high school youth nationwide, approximately 9% of students reported that they have been forced to have sexual intercourse (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2004). Serious dating violence occurs in 1.6% of adolescent relationships...roughly 400,000 adolescents (Wolitzky-Taylor et al., 2008). Spurred by this information, a variety of programs have been developed to provide adolescents with the information and skills necessary to limit the occurrence of relationship violence. Evaluation of these programs is not mandatory and often prevention programs fail to impact students because of problems with implementation and retention of students. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate one such program, Project Awareness, a comprehensive, educational approach focusing on middle-school students. Sixty-six middle school students participated in the Project Awareness program and were administered pre- and post-program measures to examine differences in sexual assault and dating violence knowledge, attitudes and behavior. Participating in the program proved to impact female students more than males. Females gained both more knowledge about rape myths and demonstrated greater attitude change about sexual assault. Programs about sexually-related violence should be implemented in schools before high school, be conducted in single-sex classes and must be evaluated for effectiveness. / Educational Psychology

Both a recent narrative review and a meta-analytic review of prevalence rates, indicates that prior sexual victimization increases risk for future victimization (Messman & Long, 1996, Roodman & Clum, in press). The purpose of this study was to examine two competing models of sexual victimization that examined the path between child abuse and later sexual victimization. Hypothesized mediating variables were negative cognitive schemas, dissociation, risky behaviors, and coping strategies. Structural equation modeling was used to examine two competing models of sexual victimization. A sample of 276 college students taking introductory psychology were participants. They anonymously completed a packet of questionnaires that provided the indicator variables for the path models that were tested. Both models tested received minimal support but many of the proposed pathways in the model were not statistically significant suggesting problems with the models. Due to measurement issues with the manifest indicators of the latent factors, any results should be viewed with caution. It appears as though none of the factors in the model mediate the relationship between early and later victimization. However, both models tested demonstrated significant pathways between the factor for child abuse (comprising physical and sexual abuse) and negative cognitive schemas and for child abuse and dissociation. However, the paths from negative cognitive schemas and dissociation to sexual victimization (comprising both adolescent and adult sexual victimization) were not significant suggesting that, although these factors are influenced by child abuse, they do not mediate revictimization. Risky behaviors, as measured by consensual sex and alcohol consumption, do not appear to be influenced by early abuse, but there was a significant pathway between this factor and sexual victimization suggesting that these risky behaviors are independent risk factors for sexual victimization in adolescence and adulthood. In one model there was a significant pathway between child abuse and sexual victimization which is what would be expected given previous findings that suggest past abuse is the best predictor of future victimization experiences (Roodman & Clum, in press). That the other model did not demonstrate this relationship was surprising. / Ph. D.

Background: Non-fatal strangulation (NFS) is a life-threatening event in cases of sexual assault. The incidence of NFS during sexual assault is increasing on a global scale. NFS is a gendered crime as most victims are women and most assailants are men and is more common in intimate partner violence. Strangulation victims only have visible neck injuries around 50% of the time, but visible injuries are not a reliable indicator of the severity of the assault. NFS can cause neurological damage from lack of blood flow to the brain and result in physical and psychological trauma. NFS indicates a high degree of lethality in cases of sexual assault and victims of NFS are more likely to become homicide victims in the future. Methods: Information was gathered through a retrospective chart review of sexual assault medical forensic examination forms in a Mountain West state from 2019-2022. Descriptive statistical and Chi-square analyses were conducted. Interrater reliability (Cohen's Kappa) was calculated. Results: This retrospective, exploratory study of 2,077 sexual assault cases found the following variables statistically significant in NFS cases (~27.01% of total cases): age; gender; prior history of sexual assault; established suspect relationship; pain reports post assault; victim hit by assailant; victim reports of breathing changes; increased number of penetrative acts; and anogenital and non-anogenital injuries. Conclusion: NFS in SA are overall more violent assaults. Increased awareness and understanding of NFS during sexual assault will lead to improved medical management, nursing care, and services for victims experiencing NFS.

Sexual victimization among college women is a common problem. This two-part study sought to examine social interaction anxiety as a risk factor of sexual victimization and to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a computer-based risk reduction program. A total of 1095 undergraduate females completed an online survey to assess social anxiety as a risk factor (study part I), a subsample of whom (n = 136, including 51 above the clinical cutoff on a social anxiety measure and 85 below the cutoff) completed the subsequent in-lab study (study part II). During study part II, participants were randomly assigned to either receive a computer-based risk reduction program or an educational program on campus resources (control condition), and their predicted use of resistance techniques was assessed both before and after their assigned program. Participants also responded to an audio recording of a sexual assault vignette to assess risk detection. After controlling for past victimization and depression, social interaction anxiety was not related to predicted use of assertive resistance techniques or to risk detection. However, social anxiety positively predicted use of passive resistance techniques at the lowest level of unwanted sexual advances (i.e., breast fondling) in a series of three escalating sexual advances (i.e., breast fondling, genital fondling, and rape threat). No participants dropped out of the study, and ratings on a questionnaire assessing acceptability of the risk reduction program were positive. Program condition predicted change scores for predicted use of assertive resistance at a low level of unwanted sexual advances (i.e., breast fondling) such that the control group decreased in predicted use of assertive resistance significantly more than the risk reduction program group. Additionally, the risk reduction program group had significantly better risk detection compared to the control group. Therefore, support for the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of the risk reduction program was found. The finding that the control group decreased significantly more than the risk reduction program group in assertive resistance between the two story administrations is important because assertive resistance techniques tend to be the most effective in reducing risk of completed sexual victimization. Therefore, it is important that risk reduction programs encourage women to use assertive resistance. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. / Ph. D.

Sexual victimization is a significant problem on college and university campuses, and it is important to evaluate risk factors for sexual victimization in order to attempt to reduce women's risk of victimization. This study investigated social interaction anxiety as a risk factor for sexual victimization. It was hypothesized that social interaction anxiety may increase risk of sexual victimization by decreasing sexual assertiveness and increasing alcohol-related problems. College women (n = 690) completed an online survey that assessed social interaction anxiety, sexual assertiveness, alcohol-related problems, and a variety of types of sexual victimization, in addition to other measures. When total effects were examined, social interaction anxiety only significantly predicted victimization by coercion. However, when indirect effects of sexual assertiveness were examined, social interaction anxiety had a significant effect on all types of sexual victimization (i.e., unwanted sexual contact, attempted coercion, coercion, attempted rape, and rape). Alcohol-related problems did not significantly account for the relationship between social interaction anxiety and sexual victimization. It is recommended that interventions designed to reduce women's risk of victimization include interventions designed to address both social interaction anxiety and sexual refusal assertiveness. / Master of Science