Sexual victimization among college women: Role of sexual assertiveness and resistance variables

OBJECTIVE: College women are at high risk for sexual assault, especially women with a history of sexual victimization. The present study uses a longitudinal design to explore the role of sexual assertiveness, psychological barriers to resistance, and resistance self-efficacy as putative mediators between prior sexual victimization and sexual revictimization among a sample of 296 college women. METHOD: Women completed assessments of sexual victimization since the age of 14, as well as putative mediator variables at a baseline assessment. Sexual revictimization was assessed over a 7-month interim. RESULTS: Results of structural equation modeling indicated that the relationship between baseline and follow-up sexual assault was mediated by the study variables. Follow-up analyses suggested that sexual assertiveness served as a particularly salient mediator. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that increasing women's sexual assertiveness skills may be a particularly important component of reducing risk for sexual revictimization among women with a history of assault. ©2016 American Psychological Association Language: en