Expanding the Sexual Experiences Survey to Include Technology Facilitated Sexual Exploitation.

The Sexual Experiences Survey is the most widely used measure of sexual assault victimization and perpetration among college students. To improve comprehensiveness and inclusiveness, the current revision of the victimization items of the SES (SES-V; Koss et al., 2024) included the addition of a module focusing on Technology Facilitated Sexual Exploitation (TFSE). The current paper outlines why the inclusion of items related to TFSE was necessary, and describes the development of the items making up this module of the SES-V. The module consists of 10 items that map onto seven domains: receipt of sexual materials, target of unwanted sexual comments, threatened sharing of sexually explicit images, actual sharing of sexually explicit images, target of sexual solicitation, threatened sharing of images of sexual exploitation, and actual sharing of images of sexual exploitation. Consistent with how the other types of sexual exploitation are assessed in the SES-V (Koss et al., 2024), respondents indicate how many times they have experienced these events since their 14th birthday and use an 11-point response format ranging from 0 to 10 or more times per experience. The addition of the new module on TFSE to the SES-V will ensure researchers assess both in-person and cyber modalities of sexual exploitation.

Preliminary Evidence of Validity for the Verbally Pressured and Illegal Sexual Exploitation Modules of the Sexual Experiences Survey-Victimization.

The Sexual Experiences Survey-Victimization (SES-V; see Koss et al., 2024) revises the prior 2007 Sexual Experiences Survey-Short Form Victimization (SES-SFV) in many ways, including expanded measurement of verbally pressured and illegal sexual exploitation, as well as the addition of items that assess being made to perform a sexual act or to penetrate another person sexually. The current article describes two initial validity studies of the SES-V. Study 1 compared rates of self-reported verbal pressure and illegal sexual exploitation (e.g. rape) on a preliminary version of the SES-V and the SES-SFV in a sample of higher education students who completed both questionnaires online in a randomized order (N = 460). As expected, the preliminary SES-V produced higher rates than the SES-SFV, and continuous scores were strongly correlated. Responses to the made-to-penetrate (MTP) items suggested that some cisgender men and women may have misunderstood those items. Study 2 explored responses to the MTP items further by randomly assigning participants to complete items with either the Study 1 MTP language (n = 269) or revised language (n = 245). The revised language produced fewer implausible responses and was adopted in the final version of the SES-V. These findings provide initial support for the validity of the SES-V and the value of expanding the conceptualization of victimization to include a wider range of sexual exploitation. A research agenda for future validity research is suggested.

The Revised Sexual Experiences Survey Victimization Version (SES-V): Conceptualization, Modifications, Items and Scoring.

The Sexual Experiences Survey [SES] is considered the gold standard measure of non-consensual sexual experiences. This article introduces a new victimization version [SES-V] developed by a multidisciplinary collaboration, the first revision since 2007. The 2024 SES-V is designed to measure the construct of sexual exploitation since the 14th birthday. Notable revisions are adoption of a freely given permission standard for non-consent, introduction of new tactics and acts, including made to perform or to penetrate another person's body, tactics-first wording order, and emphasis on gender and sexual orientation inclusivity. The SES-V is modularized to allow whole or partial administration. Modules include Non-contact, Technology-facilitated, Illegal (largely penetrative), and Verbally pressured sexual exploitation. Tables provide item text, multiple scoring approaches, module follow-up, specific incident description and demographics. Future plans include developing a scoring algorithm based on weighting our hypothesized dimensions of sexual exploitation severity: invasiveness, pressure, and norm violation combined with frequency. This article is the first in a special issue on the SES-V. Subsequent articles focus on the taxonomies and literature that informed each module. The issue concludes with two empirical papers demonstrating the feasibility and validity of the SES-V: (1) psychometric comparison with the 2007 SES-SFV; and (2) prevalence data from a census-matched adult community sample.

Long-term Impacts of Civic Engagement during Emerging Adulthood: A Nationally-representative Study.

PURPOSE: We examined if civic engagement during emerging adulthood positively impacted a broad array of outcomes in middle adulthood, and if associations varied based on race, gender, age, and urban-rural status. DESIGN: Prospective design used to determine if civic engagement during emerging adulthood (M age = 21.81) predicted outcomes 15 years later. SETTING: Restricted data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. SUBJECTS: Wave 1 participants who completed surveys 7 years (77% follow-up rate), 14 years (80% follow-up rate), and 22 years later (follow-up rate 72%) and who had valid sampling weight to ensure national representativeness (n = 9349). MEASURES: Predictor - civic engagement; Outcomes-mental health, substance use, criminal behaviors, and healthy behavior. ANALYSIS: Linear regression using MPLUS 7.2. RESULTS: Civic engagement predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms (b = -1.05, SE = .28), criminal behaviors (b = -.47, SE = .12), and substance use (b = -.66, SE = .13), and higher levels of healthy behaviors (b = 1.26, SE = .19), after controlling for demographics, family, peer, neighborhood, and school-related background variables. Moderation analyses revealed that civic engagement benefited females and white participants more. CONCLUSION: Civic engagement during emerging adulthood has a positive impact on a broad array of outcomes in middle adulthood. Implications and future research recommendations will be discussed.

Physical activity is inversely associated with overall cancer risk among college students in the United States: Results from the National College Health Assessment.

To our knowledge, this is the first epidemiologic study to examine the association between physical activity (PA) and cancer using data from the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA). The goal of the study was to understand the dose-response relation between PA and cancer, as well as the associations between meeting US PA guidelines and overall cancer risk in US college students. The ACHA-NCHA provided self-reported information on demographic characteristics, PA, body mass index, smoking status, and overall cancer during 2019-2022 (n = 293,682; 0.08% cancer cases). To illustrate the dose-response relationship, a restricted cubic spline logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association of overall cancer with moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) on a continuous basis. Logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals for the associations between meeting the three U.S. PA guidelines and overall cancer risk. The cubic spline observed that MVPA was inversely associated with the odds of overall cancer risk after adjusting for covariates; a one hour/week increase in moderate and vigorous PA was associated with a 1% and 5% reduced overall cancer risk, respectively. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression analyses showed that meeting the US guidelines for aerobic PA for adults (≥150 minutes/week of moderate aerobic PA or ≥75 minutes of vigorous PA) (OR: 0.85), for PA for adults (≥2 days of muscle strengthening activity in addition to aerobic MVPA) (OR: 0.90), and for highly active adults (≥2 days of muscle strengthening activity and ≥300 minutes/week of aerobic moderate PA or 150 minutes/week of vigorous PA) (OR: 0.89) were statistically significant and inversely associated with cancer risk. MVPA, especially meeting US guidelines, may be inversely associated with overall cancer among college students in the US. To reduce cancer risks, multilevel interventions to promote US physical activity guidelines among college students are warranted.

Food Environment Index is Inversely Associated with Gastric Cancer Incidence in the United States.

The first epidemiologic study was conducted to prospectively examine the association between Food Environment Index (FEI) and gastric cancer (GC) risk in the US. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results provided information on GC incident cases diagnosed between 2000 and 2015 from 16 population-based cancer registries across the US. The county-level food environment was assessed using the FEI, an indicator of access to healthy foods (0 is worst, 10 is best). Poisson regression was used to calculate incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between FEI and GC risk adjusting for individual-level and county-level covariates. Higher levels of FEI were associated with a statistically significant reduced risk for GC (n = 87,288 cases; adjusted IRR for every score increase = 0.50, 95% CI 0.35, 0.70; P < 0.001; adjusted IRR for the medium vs. low category = 0.87, 95% CI 0.81, 0.94; and adjusted IRR for the high vs. low category = 0.89, 95% CI 0.82, 0.95). These results suggest that a healthy food environment, as measured by FEI, may be a protective factor for GC in the US. To reduce the GC incidence, further strategies to improve food environment at the county level are warranted.

Effects of Campus Sexual Assault Prevention Programs on Attitudes and Behaviors Among American College Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The US Campus Sexual Assault Violence Elimination (SaVE) Act of 2013 mandates that all higher education institutions receiving federal funds offer incoming students primary prevention and awareness programming addressing sexual violence. Yet, there is no thorough and up-to-date quantitative synthesis of the effects of campus sexual assault prevention programs on sexual assault attitudes/knowledge and behaviors. Thus, we conducted a systematic review of the literature and a meta-analysis of experimental and high-quality quasi-experimental research examining effects of college sexual assault prevention programs on sexual assault attitudes and behaviors. Our synthesis of 385 effect sizes from 80 eligible studies disseminated between 1991 and 2021 indicates campus sexual assault programs have a more pronounced effect on attitudes/knowledge than on violence. Effects on sexual assault victimization were significant but small (g = 0.15) and effects on sexual assault perpetration were nonsignificant. Moderator analyses indicate programs that use a risk reduction framework are associated with less favorable outcomes than programs that do not use a risk reduction framework. Considering the limited effect of campus sexual assault prevention programs on violence, we recommend programming efforts move beyond a focus on individuals and, instead, adopt an ecological perspective targeting individuals, social relationships, community factors, and societal factors.

Women's Behavioral Coping Responses During Sexual Assault: Association With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and the Moderating Role of Alexithymia.

We examined the associations between women's behavioral coping responses during sexual assault and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and the moderating role of alexithymia in college women (N = 152). Immobilized responses (b = 0.52, p < .001), childhood SA (b = 0.18, p = .01), and alexithymia (b = 0.34, p < .001) significantly predicted PTSD. The interaction between immobilized responses and alexithymia was significant (b = 0.39, p = .002), indicating a stronger association for those higher in alexithymia. Immobilized responses are associated with PTSD, particularly for those with difficulty identifying and labeling emotions.

COVID-related stress, risk for suicidal behavior, and protective factors in a national sample of college students.

Objective: This study's purpose was to determine if COVID-related stress predicted suicide risk among college students and if this risk was attenuated by higher levels of social and psychological resources. Participants: The sample included 65,142 college students who participated in the National College Health Assessment survey in Spring 2021. Methods: SPSS PROCESS was used to test the association between COVID-related stress and suicide risk while controlling for demographic covariates and to determine the potential stress-buffering roles of social connectedness, resiliency, and psychological well-being. Results: Higher levels of COVID-related stress predicted increased suicide risk yet this risk was attenuated when social connectedness, resiliency, and psychological flourishing were greater. Conclusions: Findings indicate that efforts to increase social connectedness, resiliency, and psychological flourishing could help reduce the risk of college students' suicidality under conditions of high COVID-related stress.

Open pilot trial of an interactive digital application for campus sexual violence prevention.

Digital applications, or "serious games" for health address learning goals in a cognitively active, interactive manner, with the potential for widespread dissemination. This study used a mixed methods approach to develop and conduct a formative evaluation of a digital application for sexual assault prevention. Make a change is a digital application that uses the principles of games for health to foster learning, engagement, and skill-building around risk and protective factors for sexual victimization, sexual aggression, and bystander intervention. The digital application includes four narrative chapters, six embedded activities, as well as a user-derived change plan in which individuals establish goals for behavior change following program completion. This multisite study at a 2- and a 4-year college utilized student interviews (n = 14), stakeholder interviews (n = 10), and focus groups with students (n = 40) to inform intervention development. A total of 41 college students then participated in an open trial and completed self-report surveys (pre, post, and 1-month follow-up) to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, utility, and preliminary outcomes. Most of the sample reported enjoyment, usefulness, and perceived competence after completing the application. Data evidenced a trend to reduce the frequency of heavy drinking, and perceptions of social norms evidenced change over time. Findings support the feasibility and effectiveness of this novel format for the delivery of sexual assault prevention programming.

Crisis Response and Suicidal Behaviors of Essential Workers and Children of Essential Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic has put unprecedented stress on essential workers and their children. Limited cross-sectional research has found increases in mental health conditions from workload, reduced income, and isolation among essential workers. Less research has been conducted on children of essential workers. We examined trends in the crisis response of essential workers and their children from April 2020 through August 2021. METHODS: We investigated the impact during 3 periods of the pandemic on workers and their children using anonymized data from the Crisis Text Line on crisis help-seeking texts for thoughts of suicide or active suicidal ideation (desire, intent, capability, time frame), abuse (emotional, physical, sexual, unspecified), anxiety/stress, grief, depression, isolation, bullying, eating or body image, gender/sexual identity, self-harm, and substance use. We used generalized estimating equations to study the longitudinal change in crisis response across the later stages of the pandemic using adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for worker status and crisis outcomes. RESULTS: Results demonstrated higher odds of crisis outcomes for thoughts of suicide (aOR = 1.06; 95% CI, 1.00-1.12) and suicide capability (aOR = 1.14; 95% CI, 1.02-1.27) among essential workers than among nonessential workers. Children of essential workers had higher odds of substance use than children of nonessential workers (aOR = 1.33; 95% CI, 1.08-1.65), particularly for Indigenous American children (aOR = 2.76; 95% CI, 1.35-5.36). Essential workers (aOR = 1.17; 95% CI, 1.07-1.27) and their children (aOR = 1.18; 95% CI, 1.07-1.30) had higher odds of grief than nonessential workers and their children. CONCLUSION: Essential workers and their children had elevated crisis outcomes. Immediate and low-cost psychologically supportive interventions are needed to mitigate the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on these populations.

Intimate Partner Violence, Legal Systems and Barriers for African American Women.

Although many African American IPV survivors need services, they often do not access care. Hopelessness may partially explain low rates in help-seeking for this population and serve as a significant barrier to care for African American IPV survivors particularly those who have had prior legal system involvement. In a sample of 185 African American women, we first examined whether hopelessness mediated the relation between IPV and barriers to services. If such a mediation effect was found, we then would explore whether legal system involvement moderated the mediated effect of hopelessness on the relation between IPV and barriers to services. As anticipated, hopelessness partially served to explain (i.e., mediated) the relation between IPV and barriers to services. Further, this mediated effect was moderated by legal system involvement such that when legal system involvement was included as a moderator, hopelessness mediated the association between IPV and barriers to services only for those survivors who had been involved with the legal system. These results underscore the critical role of hopelessness as a barrier to accessing services for African American IPV survivors, especially those with prior involvement with the legal system. Recommendations are offered that underscore the importance of interventions that empower African American women who have survived violence instead of penalizing them.

Adverse childhood experiences, sexual victimization, and suicide ideation and attempts: A longitudinal path analysis spanning 22 years.

Suicide is an urgent public health problem. The purpose of this study was to determine if adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increased the risk for suicide ideations and attempts approximately 22 years later, and if sexual victimization (SV) in adulthood mediated these associations. Prospective data from a nationally representative sample of 10,914 participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health were used to test direct associations of ACEs (physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, neglect, family history of suicide attempts, and parental death, alcoholism, and incarceration) with suicide ideation and attempts and their indirect effects through sexual victimization in adulthood. All but one ACE significantly predicted increased odds of making a suicide attempt. Physical, sexual, and emotional abuse as well as family history of suicide attempts and parental incarceration predicted seriously considering suicide. All forms of childhood abuse and family history of suicide attempts predicted increased odds of sexual victimization. In multivariate longitudinal models controlling for age, race, and gender, the odds of seriously considering suicide and making a suicide attempt increased as the number of ACEs increased. Experiencing two or more ACEs also was associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing sexual victimization in adulthood, which in turn mediated the effects of ACEs on suicide ideation but not suicide attempts. Findings indicate that reducing ACEs is an important strategy for suicide prevention not only due to ACEs' direct association with suicide ideation and attempts, but also due to their indirect association via subsequent sexual victimization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Prevention of sexual violence among college students: Current challenges and future directions.

Objective Preventing sexual violence among college students is a public health priority. This paper was catalyzed by a summit convened in 2018 to review the state of the science on campus sexual violence prevention. We summarize key risk and vulnerability factors and campus-based interventions, and provide directions for future research pertaining to campus sexual violence. Results and Conclusions: Although studies have identified risk factors for campus sexual violence, longitudinal research is needed to examine time-varying risk factors across social ecological levels (individual, relationship, campus context/broader community and culture) and data are particularly needed to identify protective factors. In terms of prevention, promising individual and relational level interventions exist, including active bystander, resistance, and gender transformative approaches; however, further evidence-based interventions are needed, particularly at the community-level, with attention to vulnerability factors and inclusion for marginalized students.

Prevalence and Correlates of Sexual Assault Perpetration and Ambiguous Consent in a Representative Sample of College Students.

The primary aim of the current study was to examine the prevalence and correlates of self-reported sexual assault (SA) perpetration, defined as nonconsensual sexualized touching or attempted or completed oral, vaginal, or anal penetration since starting college among men, women, and gender nonconforming (GNC) students. A secondary aim was to examine the prevalence and correlates of self-reported sexual encounters when the respondent was unsure that their partner consented (ambiguous consent). In spring 2016, 1,671 randomly sampled students (67% response rate) at two interconnected urban undergraduate institutions participated in an online survey about sexual experiences and personal and social contextual correlates. Prevalence estimates for SA perpetration and ambiguous consent were estimated and logistic regression was used to test bivariate associations between these two outcomes and a range of potential correlates. Approximately 2% of students self-reported any SA perpetration and 9% reported any ambiguous consent experiences since starting college. Pre-college SA perpetration, past-year SA victimization, belief in and use of nonverbal consent strategies, binge drinking, and depression symptoms were associated with higher odds of both SA perpetration and ambiguous consent while at college. Hookups were associated with higher odds of ambiguous consent; family social support was associated with lower odds of ambiguous consent. Findings of similar correlates for SA perpetration and ambiguous consent point to prevention programming focused on verbal consent strategies, alcohol harm reduction approaches, and pre-college interventions.

Empathy as a moderator of sexual violence perpetration risk factors among college men.

Objective: This study examined if empathy was a significant moderator of several empirically established risk factors for sexual violence perpetration among college men. Participants: Data are from 544 college men who participated in a longitudinal study from 2008 to 2011 at a large, public university. Methods: Participants completed a self-report survey in their first through fourth years in college. A series of generalized linear models were conducted using sexual violence risk factors and empathy during the sophomore year as predictors of sexual violence perpetration frequency during junior year. Results: Empathy was found to be a significant moderator of six out of the 10 sexual violence risk factors tested, such that high levels of empathy were associated with lower sexual violence perpetration rates among high-risk males. Conclusion: Additional research, including the measurement and evaluation of empathy in implementation of college sexual violence prevention and intervention efforts, should be undertaken.

Evaluation of a Brief Suicide Prevention Training Program for College Campuses.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death in college students. While research indicates a positive impact of gatekeeper training programs on knowledge and attitudes, few have examined change in suicide prevention behaviors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a brief suicide prevention training for college campuses on knowledge, self-efficacy to intervene, and gatekeeper behaviors. A longitudinal design was employed to examine changes from pretest to post-test and 3-month follow-up. Participants included 517 students, staff, and faculty who attended a 90-minute training and completed self-report surveys. The training included both didactic and experiential components. Repeated measures ANOVAs indicated that knowledge, self-efficacy to discuss suicide and to refer to resources, and gatekeeper behavior increased from pretest to post-test and follow-up. Students exhibited a greater increase in gatekeeper behaviors, in comparison to non-students. Large changes were observed on publicizing suicide prevention information and having informal conversations about suicide with students, and 76% had engaged in gatekeeper behavior at follow-up. Findings offer support for the potential efficacy of a brief prevention program, with promising effects on several suicide prevention behaviors. Declines on knowledge and self-efficacy from post-test to follow-up highlight the importance of booster sessions and complementary programming.

Sorority Membership and Sexual Victimization: An Examination of Potential Mediators of the Association.

This study examined putative mediators of the association between sorority membership and sexual victimization among 718 women who were enrolled in their first year of college. Data were collected through anonymous, self-report surveys that assessed sexual victimization in college, two hypothesized mediator variables (i.e., alcohol misuse and number of sexual partners), and four control variables (i.e., minority racial status, residence in a coed dorm, behavioral and psychological problems before college, and sexual victimization before college). Values for both sexual victimization variables were collapsed into one of three categories (i.e., no victimization, moderately severe victimization, severe victimization). Bivariate analyses revealed sorority members had higher levels of alcohol misuse, number of sexual partners, and severe sexual victimization in college than did nonmembers. Multivariate analyses showed number of sexual partners mediated the association between sorority membership and both types of sexual victimization in college, whereas alcohol misuse mediated the association between sorority membership and severe sexual victimization in college only. Implications of the findings for future research and prevention, along with limitations of the study, are discussed.

Trajectories of Dating Violence Victimization and Perpetration among Rural Adolescents.

Research is inconclusive about the trajectory of dating violence during adolescence and whether there are differences across gender and race/ethnicity. We examined dating victimization and perpetration trajectories among a diverse sample of rural youth (N = 580, 52.7% female, 49% Black, 39% White, 11% Hispanic or other minorities) in middle and high school who were surveyed annually across four years and explored the influences of gender and ethnicity. The results based on cohort-sequential latent growth modeling revealed that for boys, victimization peaked at 11th grade, and then declined. For girls, victimization was stable throughout adolescence. Perpetration was reported less frequently and increased steadily for males and females. For White youth, victimization peaked at grades 9 and 10, followed by a decline. For Black youth, victimization followed a linear increase. Perpetration trajectory followed a linear increase for White and Black but not Hispanic youth. The findings indicate that the developmental progression of dating violence during adolescence varies by demographics. The discussion focuses on future directions for research on teen dating violence among rural youth and implications for prevention and interventions initiatives.