Enhancing women's resistance to sexual coercion: a randomized controlled trial of the DATE program.

OBJECTIVE: Despite extensive efforts to develop sexual assault prevention programs for college women, few have been rigorously evaluated, and fewer have demonstrable effects on victimization. This study pilots the Dating Assertiveness Training Experience (DATE), designed to train young women in assertiveness skills for responding to sexual coercion and to provide them opportunities to practice these skills in a safe environment. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred thirty-nine female college students from a private university in the Southwest. METHODS: Participants were randomly assigned to DATE or a no-treatment control group. Sexual victimization and response to acts of sexual aggression were assessed prior to randomization, after intervention, and monthly for 3 months. RESULTS: Women who completed DATE were less likely to be victimized than women in the control condition; those who were victimized were more likely to respond assertively. CONCLUSIONS: Assertiveness training for resisting sexual coercion holds promise for reducing sexual victimization of young women.

Assessing women's responses to sexual threat: validity of a virtual role-play procedure.

This study evaluated the validity of a role-play procedure that uses virtual reality technology to assess women's responses to sexual threat. Forty-eight female undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either a standard, face-to-face role-play (RP) or a virtual role-play (VRP) of a sexually coercive situation. A multimethod assessment strategy was used to evaluate the efficacy of the role-play procedure in creating a realistic and immersive situation. Consistent with our hypotheses, women in the VRP condition exhibited greater negative affect and immersion than women in the RP condition. In addition, the level of assertive refusal in the VRP, but not the RP, condition differentiated between women with and without a prior history of sexual victimization. These findings provide evidence of the validity of a virtual role-play procedure for assessing women's responses in sexually threatening situations.

Can virtual reality increase the realism of role plays used to teach college women sexual coercion and rape-resistance skills?

The present study evaluated whether virtual reality (VR) can enhance the realism of role plays designed to help college women resist sexual attacks. Sixty-two female undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either the Role Play (RP) or Virtual Role Play (VRP) conditions, which were differentiated only by the use of VR technology in the VRP condition. A multimethod assessment strategy was used to evaluate the effects of VR on the experienced realism of sexually threatening role plays. Realism was assessed by participant self-reports of negative affect and perceptions of realism, direct observation of participants' verbal displays of negative affect during the role plays, and measurements of participant heart rate during the role plays. Results indicated that VR can indeed heighten the realism of sexually threatening role plays. Discussion focuses on issues regarding the use of VR-enhanced role plays for helping college women resist sexual attacks.