October/November 2000 Article 1 Article 2

The Differential Correlates of Sexual Coercion and Rape Maria Testa, Ph.D., and Kurt H. Dermen, Ph.D. University at Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions Abstracted from Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14, 548-561, 1999. Researchers at the Research Institute on Addictions examined experiences of sexual coercion and rape/attempted rape among a sample of young women who were at increased risk of sexual aggression as a result of their high levels of sexual activity and alcohol consumption. Maria Testa, Ph.D. and Kurt H. Dermen, Ph.D. considered the possibility that there are different risk factors in sexual coercion and in rape/attempted rape. Previous research has shown that sexual coercion involves verbal or emotional pressure and that the women who experienced coercion had lower self-esteem and assertiveness skills. Rape/attempted rapes by their nature typically involve force and have been shown as more likely than coercion to involve alcohol consumption by either the victim or the assailant. This Study For the purposes of this study, women were classified into four mutually exclusive groups: those who had experienced sexual coercion but not rape, those who had experienced rape but not coercion, those who had experienced both coercion and rape, and those who had experienced neither. The 190 women who participated in the study were single and between the ages of 20-35. Most were European American (78%). Approximately half of the women were currently enrolled in college and 80% had some education past high school. To be eligible, they had to consume at least three to four drinks of alcohol per occasion at least once a week. Because part of the overall study concerned HIV-risk behaviors with new partners, eligibility criteria included having more than one male sexual partner within the past year and having sexual intercourse within the past month. Sixty-seven percent of the women reported experiencing some type of sexual aggression. They were then classified according to whether they had experienced sexual coercion or rape/attempted rape. Ten women were excluded from the following because they reported unwanted sexual contact only, but not coercion or rape/attempted rape. Forty-seven women had experienced coercion but not rape, 25 had experienced rape but not coercion, 44 had experienced both coercion and rape, and 64 had experienced neither. Participants were assessed for experiences of adult sexual aggression; childhood sexual abuse; weekly alcohol consumption; casual sexual behavior; sex-related alcohol expectancies; assertiveness; assertiveness specific to sexual behavior; and self-esteem. Findings Age was not associated with either type of experience. Women who had experienced coercion reported lower household income and lower education attainment, when compared to those who had not been coerced. Income and education did not differ for women who reported rape compared to those who did not. More women who experienced rape/attempted rape described their ethnic heritage as other than European compared to women who did not experience rape/attempted rape. Coercion was not associated with ethnicity. Regarding sexual experiences, some type of childhood sexual abuse was reported by 38.6% of the sample. Women who experienced coercion reported more severe childhood sexual abuse compared to women who had not experienced coercion. Women who had experienced rape also reported more severe childhood sexual abuse when compared to those who had not been raped. Fifty-eight percent of the women reported having more than 10 sexual partners, 78% reported having more than one “one-night stand,” and 79% reported first having sex with a new partner between one week and five months after meeting him. Women who had experienced either type of sexual aggression reported engaging in more of the above types of casual sexual activity than women who had not experienced sexual aggression. Alcohol consumption was positively associated with both coercion and rape/attempted rape. Women who had experienced rape had significantly higher weekly alcohol consumption and tended to report more frequent consumption of alcohol in conjunction with sex, and more alcohol-related problems, compared to those without rape experiences. Women who had experienced coercion reported more alcohol problems, higher frequency of alcohol consumption in conjunction with sex, consumption of more drinks before sex, and somewhat higher weekly consumption, compared to women who had not experienced coercion. The researchers had hypothesized that sexual coercion but not rape would be associated with distinctive personality characteristics. Consistent with the hypothesis, women who had experienced coercion tended to have lower self-esteem and assertiveness when compared to those who had not experienced coercion. These personality characteristics were not associated with rape/attempted rape. Further, women who had experienced sexual coercion were more likely to believe that alcohol consumption enhances sex, increases the likelihood of risky sex, and decreases inhibition, when compared to those women who had not experienced coercion. Conclusions Although most research on sexual aggression has treated verbal sexual coercion as a less severe form of victimization than rape/attempted rape, this study suggests that it may be valuable to consider sexual coercion as a distinct form of sexual aggression. The results indicate that women who experience sexual coercion are lower in self-esteem and assertiveness. The finding that low assertiveness is associated with sexual coercion but not rape - which involves physical force - may help to explain the failure of some previous studies to find a relationship between assertiveness and sexual aggression in general. The researchers speculate that women with low self-esteem may be willing to remain in sexually coercive relationships, may fail to communicate their objections to unwanted sex, or may be perceived by sexually aggressive men as appropriate targets for unwanted sexual advances. Testa and Dermen had predicted that sex-related alcohol expectancies would be stronger among women experiencing either type of victimization. In fact, women’s beliefs about the impact of alcohol on sexual behavior were strongly related to experiences of coercion, but not to rape/attempted rape. They concluded that sex-related alcohol expectancies may reflect a general sense of powerlessness regarding sexual behavior that is consistent with low self-esteem and low assertiveness. Both rape and coercion experiences were associated with higher levels of alcohol consumption and higher levels of casual sexual activity. The fact that this sample of women was selected on the basis of its high levels of both sexual activity and alcohol use suggests that these relationships are quite strong. Also, consistent with past research, women who experienced sexual coercion, as well as those who had experienced rape/attempted rape, also reported greater severity of childhood sexual abuse. Overall, the findings suggest that prevention efforts directed toward assertiveness and communication skills may be particularly helpful in preventing sexual coercion. Furthermore, given the nature of the beliefs that coerced women had regarding the role of alcohol on sexual behavior, it would seem helpful to direct efforts toward weakening these expectancies and emphasizing that one can have control over one’s sexuality even when drinking. In summary, this study is put forth as an initial step in understanding sexual coercion and rape/attempted rape as distinct phenomena. Additional research is needed to replicate and extend these findings. Clinical Implications It is important to ask about experiences of sexual coercion as well as rape/attempted rape with women clients. Enhancing assertiveness and self-esteem may be important skills in helping women to deal with future occurrences of sexual aggression. Consider sexual coercion and rape/attempted rape as distinct phenomena and that both forms of sexual aggression may be associated with heavy drinking. Maria Testa and Kurt H. Dermen are senior research scientists at RIA. Testa's work focuses mainly on the role of women's alcohol consumption in their experiences of sexual aggression and risk taking behaviors. Dermen is investigating the effects of alcohol use on sexual violence, HIV-related sexual risk taking, and other health risk behaviors. Article 1

William R. Greiner, President

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