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.

Environmental disasters result in the death of tens to hundreds of thousands of people and the loss of US$250-300 billion annually. Vulnerability to environmental disasters stems from both social and biophysical factors. While there is increasing awareness that individual hazards are often found in combination with other environmental or social risks in what can be referred to as multi-hazard landscapes, few studies directly examine how people respond to environmental hazards in a multi-hazard environment and the role that risk reduction and development organizations (DOs) play in that response. In this dissertation, I address this research gap through an investigation of risk perception and management in a multi-hazard environment of eastern Uganda dominated by people relying on subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative statistical analyses, I investigate how individual farmers and DOs differ in their perception and prioritization of hazards and the factors that influence farmers’ perception of multiple risks and their decisions to adopt best management strategies. Building on this household-level analysis of perception and action, I also draw on data from community-level focus groups and participatory mapping exercises to relate individual to community vulnerability. Results from these analyses show that the factors that shape farmers’ perception and management of different environmental hazards are not universal. Instead, the predictors of risk perception and adoption of best management practices are unique to particular hazards and management strategies. DOs can play an important role in reducing vulnerability through training and material inputs but need to recognize the heterogeneity of communities in doing so. Results show that communities are heterogeneous with respect to vulnerabilities, motivations, and capacities. DO programs must address these differences to achieve perception and behavior changes on a large scale. Participatory mapping exercises can be useful complements to expert risk assessments as they highlight local capacity and risk prioritizations, which do not always align with those determined by outside experts. While mapping is a promising tool for vulnerability analysis, the aspatial and unmappable components of vulnerability require a combination of methods across many scales and data types in order to be more holistically understood.