Not Getting Out While There Is Still Time? Behavioral Response to Threat as a Possible Mechanism of Sexual Revictimization

Sexual violence affects approximately one in four college women. Feminist sexual assault risk reduction programs attempt to empower women to cope with threats of sexual assault, yet there is no standardized way to assess behavioral responses to threat, the key behavior targeted in these interventions. In this study, we sought to compare the behavioral responses of two groups of college women, those without a history of any sexual victimization, n = 12 and those with a history of repeated sexual victimization, n = 45 in a standardized analog task in order to investigate possible group differences which may lead to increased risk for sexual assault and psychological factors which facilitate different styles of responding. Results indicate that women with a history of victimization were more likely to engage in less effective behavioral response styles. Hierarchical regression analyses found that interpersonal skills predicted assertive style responding. These findings indicate this analog task may be useful as a risk assessment to identify those in need of risk reduction intervention and that women with a history of sexual assault may require greater or different kinds of intervention in order to reduce risk. Finally, results indicate interpersonal skills as a possible target for increasing the efficacy of risk reduction interventions

An Experimental Test of the Impact of Varying Questionnaire Response Format on Prevalence Rates for Sexual Violence Victimization and Perpetration

Objective: This study examined the impact of a dichotomous versus scaled response format on prevalence rates of sexual violence perpetration and victimization, thus conceptually replicating Hamby et al., 2006 and extending those findings to the context of sexual violence. Methods: Two samples were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and were randomly assigned to either a dichotomous or scaled response format of the same questionnaire. Sample 1 was used to examine perpetration and received a perpetration specific version of the Post-Refusal Sexual Persistence Scale (PRSPS). Sample 2 was used to examine victimization and received a victimization specific version of the PRSPS. Results: Men and women who received the scaled response format reported significantly more incidents of sexual perpetration, and for each type of tactic studied, on the order of 1.7-9x more frequently. The association between response format condition and prevalence rates of sexual violence victimization was significant only for men (23.0 vs 39.4%) and for the tactic of verbal coercion (30.1 vs 41.5%), with the scaled response format producing greater responding. Conclusions: The response format of sexual violence items can significantly alter prevalence rates of sexual violence perpetration, with scaled response formats producing greater endorsements than dichotomous formats. Response format also appears to impact prevalence rates of sexual violence victimization, particularly for men

Use of the Response-Latency Paradigm for evaluating women’s responses to threat of date rape

This study evaluates the novel use of the response-latency paradigm to elicit women’s hypothetical behavioral responses to the threat of acquaintance rape. There were 146 college women recruited and randomly assigned to 4 study conditions. In 3 of the conditions, the threat to which participants responded was experimentally controlled; in the fourth control condition, participants selected the level of threat themselves, following standard procedure of the response-latency paradigm. Results indicated that participant’s responses became more intense as threat levels increased; this relationship was not moderated by whether the threat was controlled by the experimenter or the participant. These results indicate the response-latency paradigm is useful for eliciting and evaluating women’s hypothetical responses to the threat of acquaintance rape to learn more about this process

Behavioral response to threat (BRTT) as a key behavior for sexual assault risk reduction intervention: A critical review

Despite extensive research on sexual assault, study of the processes and behaviors central to responding to sexual assault threats is limited. The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical, narrative review of the literature on behavioral response to threat (BRTT) highlighting BRTT as mechanism of self-defense interventions and process of sexual victimization. Empirical findings regarding measurement, styles, effectiveness of different styles of BRTT, and facilitators and barriers of BRTT, are reviewed. Most individuals engage in some type of active behavior when faced with a sexual assault threat; yet, the range of the behaviors elicited can be broad and is not well captured by current measurement approaches. Assertive BRTT is the most effective response style, but few, if any, feminist self-defense intervention studies measure change in this behavior as a result of intervention. Recommendations for clinical practice include developing comprehensive measurement of BRTT and adapting interventions to decrease barriers to assertive BRTTs. Recommendations for future research include undertaking both qualitative and quantitative efforts to better characterize the range, stability, and predictors of all possible BRTT styles

Religion After Rape: Changes in Faith and Hindered Acknowledgement

Previous research has demonstrated the dramatic effect trauma can have on religiosity. This study sought to extend this understanding by examining how a specific trauma, rape, influences religious beliefs and behaviors as well as how religiosity influences acknowledgement of rape. Rape acknowledgement is the personal use of the label rape to describe such an experience. The process of acknowledgement and general recovery from rape can include dramatic questioning of one’s religious beliefs and marks an important potential point of intervention, especially given the majority of the US identifies as religious. A sample of 310 mostly Christian, college-aged women completed questionnaires about their personal religiosity, attitudes and beliefs, and trauma history. Results indicated those who experienced rape experienced significantly greater change in their religious beliefs compared to those who had experienced other types of traumas (p = .015). The relationship between rape acknowledgement and extrinsic religiosity was significantly mediated by ambivalent sexism (95% CI [.0016, .0694]) and the endorsement of rape myths about women lying about rape (95% CI [.0021, .0691]), such that high religiosity was associated with greater acceptance of these beliefs, which was associated with a lower likelihood of acknowledgement. In all, rape was shown to significantly alter one’s participation in their religion and their understanding of their own religiosity, and religious beliefs reflective of certain beliefs fueled a mislabeling of personal experiences of rape. These findings suggest religious guidance should be offered within rape recovery programming, and support for those who experience rape should be provided specifically within religious settings

Discrepant Responding Across Measures of College Students’ Sexual Victimization Experiences: Conceptual Replication and Extension

Sexual violence victimization affects approximately 1 in 5 college women and 1 in 6 college men; however, rates of sexual victimization vary widely, in part due to measurement issues. The present study is the first to compare the Sexual Experience Survey-Short Form Victimization to a measure of sexual victimization designed to capture gender differences, the Post-Refusal Sexual Persistence Scale-Victimization (PRSPS-V). Prior research has compared the perpetration versions of these questionnaires and found large discrepancies. College students (N = 673: 367 women, 298 men, 8 gender minority) were surveyed. The SES-SFV identified 260 cases of sexual victimization whereas the PRSPS-V identified 330 cases; this discrepancy was largest for men. While percent agreement between the two measures ranged from 79.9-92.0%, kappa estimates indicated that agreement was in the weak to moderate range. Kappa estimates tended to be poorer for men than women. These results highlight poor precision in the measurement of sexual violence victimization, even when using well-established measures. The PRSPS-V identified more cases and may be less gender biased. We discuss how differences in questionnaire structure, item structure, and operationalization of consent may account for discordance between the SES-SFV and PRSPS-V even when controlling for item content