Jacquelyn W. White

A Longitudinal Perspective on Dating Violence Among Adolescent and College-Age Women

OBJECTIVES We investigated physical assault in dating relationships and its co-occurrence with sexual assault from high school through college. METHODS Two classes of university women (n = 1569) completed 5 surveys during their 4 years in college. RESULTS Women who were physically assaulted as adolescents were at greater risk for revictimization during their freshman year (relative risk = 2.96); each subsequent year, women who have experienced violence remained at greater risk for revictimization than those who have not. Across all years, women who were physically assaulted in any year were significantly more likely to be sexually assaulted that same year. Adolescent victimization was a better predictor of college victimization than was childhood victimization. CONCLUSIONS There is a need for dating violence prevention/intervention programs in high school and college and for research on factors that reduce revictimization.

Revising the SES: A collaborative process to improve assessment of sexual aggression and victimization

The Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) assesses victimization and perpetration of unwanted sexual experiences (e.g., Koss, Gidycz, & Wisniewski, 1987). Revised versions of the SES that resulted from the work of the SES Collaboration are now available. This article reviews weaknesses of the SES that were identified, strengths that were preserved, and methodological considerations in the measurement of unwanted sexual experiences that informed the revisions. The primary changes include: more behavioral specificity; conversion to gender neutrality; full crossing of unwanted acts and coercive tactics; and revised and updated wording for assessing consent, alcohol-related incidents, unwanted acts, and coercive tactics. For illustration, the full text of the revised victimization version and its scoring rules are provided. The article concludes with suggestions for future research. These suggestions aim to involve researchers in a coordinated agenda to develop data that clarify methodological questions and contribute to continued improvement in assessing sexual victimization and perpetration.

Women’s vulnerability to sexual assault from adolescence to young adulthood

PURPOSE To study the vulnerability to sexual assault among undergraduate women. METHODS The respondents were demographically representative of undergraduate women in state-supported universities in the United States. Participants (N = 1569) were surveyed using the Sexual Experiences Survey at the beginning and end of their 1st year and at the end of each of the next 3 years of their undergraduate career. Survival analysis was used to determine the risk of initial victimization during specific time intervals from the age of 14 years through the collegiate years as a function of prior victimization. Odds analyses were used to analyze the main and interactive effects of victimization at prior time periods on the probability of victimization at subsequent time periods. RESULTS Victimization before the age of 14 years almost doubled the risk of later adolescent victimization (1.8). Furthermore, for those with and without childhood victimization, the risk of an initial sexual assault after the age of 14 years occurred most often in late adolescence, and declined each year thereafter (aged 18-22 years). Sexual victimization among university women was highest for those who had been first assaulted in early adolescence (4.6 times nonvictims). Detailed analyses revealed that the more severe the adolescent experience the greater the risk of collegiate revictimization. Adolescent victims of rape or attempted rape, in particular, were 4.4 times more likely to be as seriously assaulted during their 1st year of college. CONCLUSION A linear path model is suggested. Childhood victimization increased the risk of adolescent victimization, which in turn significantly affected the likelihood of revictimization among college women.

Deconstructing The Myth Of The Nonaggressive Woman: A Feminist Analysis

One of the most pervasive and undisputed gender stereotypes is that men are more aggressive than women. However, this stereotype has, until recently, led researchers to conclude that women are nonaggressive and, therefore, to ignore the topic of female aggression as a distinct phenomenon. The basis of the myth, factors supporting its maintenance, and theories of female aggression are examined. A feminist reinterpretation of aggression that views womens and mens aggressive behavior within social structural arrangements that create and sustain differential power relations is presented.

Psychopathy-Related Traits Predict Self-Reported Sexual Aggression Among College Men

To examine whether personality traits related to psychopathy predict specific forms of sexual aggression in college men, a sample of 378 men completed the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES), the Socialization Scale, and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Psychopathy Checklist ratings were also available for 63 of these men based on a brief interview. The SES is a self-report measure designed to assess a spectrum of sexually aggressive behavior, ranging from use of argument or a position of power to impel participation in sexual activity, through manipulative intoxication and exploitation of intoxicated persons, to threatening and/or using force. Regression analyses indicated that measures of both dimensions of psychopathy identified in previous research accounted for variance in self-reports of sexual aggression. Moreover, although moderately correlated, the two dimensions predicted different forms of sexual aggression. Implications for studying psychopathic traits in college samples are discussed.

Sexual Assault Perpetration and Reperpetration: From Adolescence to Young Adulthood

Three incoming freshmen classes of men provided data in a 5-year longitudinal study of the relationship between childhood victimization experiences and sexually coercive behaviors during adolescence and 4 years of college. A key finding of this study was that men who were physically punished, sexually abused, or who witnessed domestic violence in childhood were at greater risk for sexual perpetration in high school. Furthermore, men who perpetrated in high school were at greater risk for sexual perpetration in college; and after controlling for perpetration in high school, those who were abused or witnessed violence in childhood were not at greater risk for college perpetration. The findings have a number of implications for research and practice: We need to identify high-risk populations and direct more targeted interventions toward them. These groups include those who witness or experience abuse as a child and young men who perpetrate violence in adolescence, regardless of childhood abuse experiences.

Intimate Partner Aggression—What Have We Learned? Comment on Archer (2000)

This commentary on J. Archer (2000) identifies limitations at the level of the primary data, the formal meta-analysis, and the interpretations of the results. Highlighted are concerns with the conceptual dichotomy that is the foundation of the analysis, how aggression was conceptualized and defined, and the methodological problems in the studies included in the database that were not neutralized by the meta-analysis. These include inadequate measurement of contextual factors and injury outcomes, scaling issues, and sampling concerns. The authors question the degree to which the field is advanced by this meta-analysis when the results are placed in the context of these limitations. Following American Association for the Advancement of Science directives (I. Lerch, 1999), the authors believe that inadequate attention was paid to the policy implications of the conclusions raising the potential to undermine societal efforts to eradicate violence against women.

Sexuality, society, and feminism

This new volume challenges traditional perspectives into female sexuality and helps pave the way for revised understandings of womens sexuality. Top feminist scholars begin the task of molding conceptual models and methods of inquiry that will help shape a science for and about women. Taking the view that sexuality is socially constructed, the authors offer new insights into the epistemological data, theoretical models, and research methods on sexuality. At the books core, the many issues central to how women discover the meaning of their sexuality in the world around them are explored. Topics discussed include the development of female sexuality at important points in the life-span, humor and sexuality, body image, sexual assertiveness, sexual harassment, and acquaintance rape. This readable and fascinating volume will provide an important starting point to carve out a feminist agenda for new scholarship in this too-long ignored part of womens lives.

Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Predict Alcohol and Other Drug Consequence Trajectories in the First Year of College

OBJECTIVE College matriculation begins a period of transition into adulthood, one that is marked by new freedoms and responsibilities. This transition also is marked by an escalation in heavy drinking and other drug use as well as a variety of use-related negative consequences. Trauma and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may affect alcohol and drug problems and, thus, may be a point of intervention. Yet, no studies have examined trauma, PTSD, and alcohol and drug problem associations during this developmental period. The present study provides such an examination. METHOD Matriculating college students (N = 997) completed surveys in September (Time 1) and at 5 subsequent time points (Time 2-Time 6) over their 1st year of college. With latent growth analysis, trajectories of alcohol- and drug-related consequences were modeled to examine how trauma (No Criterion A Trauma, Criterion A Only, No PTSD Symptoms) and PTSD (partial or full) symptom status predicted these trajectories. RESULTS Results showed substantial risk for alcohol- and other drug-related negative consequences that is conferred by the presence of PTSD at matriculation. Those with both partial and full PTSD started the year with more alcohol and drug consequences. These individuals showed a steeper decrease in consequences in the 1st semester, which leveled off as the year progressed. Both alcohol and drug consequences remained higher for those in the PTSD group throughout the academic year. Hyperarousal symptoms showed unique effects on substance consequence trajectories. Risk patterns were consistent for both partial and full PTSD symptom presentations. Trajectories did not vary by gender. CONCLUSIONS Interventions that offer support and resources to students entering college with PTSD may help to ameliorate problem substance use and may ultimately facilitate a stronger transition into college and beyond.

INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY COLLEGE WOMEN WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF A HISTORY OF VICTIMIZATION

Using a longitudinal design, the current study explored intimate partner violence perpetration among 1,300 college women within the context of ones history of physical and sexual victimization across 4 years of college. Structural equation modeling indicated that sexual victimization does not predict concurrent use of womens intimate partner violence but does predict subsequent use of womens intimate partner violence during the later years of college. In contrast, physical victimization is associated positively with concurrent use of womens intimate partner violence but is negatively associated with subsequent use of womens intimate partner violence for women. Furthermore, the negative relationship of victimization to subsequent perpetration primarily is due to those with high levels of victimization histories. The present study provides the first model of intimate partner violence within the context of victimization history using longitudinal data. The findings indicate that womens intimate partner violence perpetration is not context-free, but rather is influenced by their own physical and sexual victimization histories.