These summaries were written by SVPEP staff and are based on original papers published within the last 3 years. The information available on this web site is provided as a public service and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, the Arizona Department of Health Services, or the University of Arizona. To conduct an individual search or locate older articles use the Search Summary Database which includes over 600 articles related to sexual violence.

Fitzgerald, M.M., Danielson, C.K., Saunders, B., & Kilpatrick, D.G. (2007).Youth victimization: Implications for prevention, intervention, and public policy. The Prevention Researcher, 14, 3-7. [Posted August 2007]

Key Points: Policies and practices are needed to minimize the harm of youth victimization by encouraging assessment, targeted prevention, and treatment interventions.  

Summary: The authors review national prevalence rates of youth victimization, including: sexual, emotional or physical abuse; witnessing domestic or community violence; property crime; and excessive punishment. They note gender and race/ethnicity differences in prevalence rates as well as mental health effects. Specific recommendations for assessing risk and resiliency factors as well as screening for victimization in clinical settings are given. The authors discuss the importance of targeted interventions for specific groups, and urge adoption of an ecological model. Finally, the authors discuss how public and organizational policies can help decrease the impact of victimization and increase the availability of supportive services for youth and their families.

Topics: adolescent/high school; effects; medical response; prevalence; prevention; racial/ethnic differences

Howard, D. E., & Wang, M. Q. (2005). Psychosocial correlates of U.S. adolescents who report a history of forced sexual intercourse. Journal of Adolescent Health, 36, 372-379.

This study examined the psychological and behavioral correlates of forced sexuality among high school students (N = 13, 601). Participants were given the 2001 national school-based Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Results showed that 7.7% of high school adolescents had experienced forced sexual violence. Moreover, girls reported a 10.2% lifetime prevalence whereas boys reported a 5.1% lifetime prevalence of forced sex. Additional results yielded associations between a history of forced sexual violence and suicidal thoughts and behaviors as well as substance abuse and other risky behaviors. The authors emphasize the need for clinical applications of these findings and recognize the issue of forced sexual intercourse among adolescents as a growing public health concern.

Topics: adolescent/high school; effects; prevalence

McFarlane, J., Malecha, A., Watson, K., Gist, J., Batten, E., Hall, I. et al. (2005). Intimate partner sexual assault against women: Frequency, health consequences, and treatment outcomes. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 105, 99-108. [Posted October 2007]

Key Points: Women who contacted law enforcement or medical personnel after sexual assault by an intimate partner were less likely to be reassaulted.

Summary: Women who had requested orders of protection against abusive partners participated in this descriptive study (N=148). Sixty-eight percent (n=100) reported being sexually assaulted at least once by their partner. Women who were sexually assaulted multiple times reported significantly higher levels of gynecologic problems, including sexually transmitted diseases, than non-sexually assaulted women. Higher PTSD scores were found in women who were sexually assaulted than among those who were only physically assaulted. For either type of assault Latina/Hispanic women had higher PTSD scores than African American or White women.

Women were less likely to be reassaulted if they told someone about the assault, contacted police, applied for protection orders, or received medical care. The researchers recommend the adoption of cooperative models that increase victims’ ability to access justice and medical services.

Limitations: Participants were recruited from a group of women who had applied for protective orders, and may differ from women who do not seek assistance from the justice system. The study relied on self-reports, which are subject to recall errors and omissions.

Topics: disclosure; effects; marital rape; racial/ethnic differences; risk

Miller, A. K., Markman, K. D., & Handley, I. M.  (2007). Self-blame among sexual assault victims prospectively predicts revictimization: A perceived sociolegal context model of risk.  Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 29, 129-136. [Posted June 2008].

Key Points: Sexual assault victims who perceived the law as permissive of nonconsensual sex are more likely to blame themselves for their assault.   Feelings of self-blame place victims at greater risk of sexual revictimization during a 4.2 month period.

Summary: The study explores relationships between sexual assault, self-blame and sexual revictimization (SRV).  Participants of the study consisted of 144 undergraduate females at a Midwestern University who reported adolescent sexual assault experiences occurring after age 14.  Each participant was administered the SRV version of the SES and the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory.  Participants also completed interviews about their sexual assault experiences and a survey on legal perceptions of heterosexual interaction resulting in intercourse. All participants completed the SRV version of the SES 4.2 months later.  This investigation found that the degree of self-blame women experience following a sexual assault can influence subsequent victimization.  Women who have greater perceptions that the law permits men’s behavior of engaging in nonconsensual sex are more likely to blame themselves for their assault or that they failed to prevent their assaults. 

Limitations:  The study included a sample that was primarily Caucasian (96.4%).  Caucasian women may have different legal perceptions of sexual assault than women from different ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Topics: secondary victimization, college, effects

Spitzberg, B. H. & Cupach, W. R. (2007). The state of the art of stalking: Taking stock of the emerging literature. Aggression & Violent Behavior, 12, 64-86. [Posted April 2007]

Key Points: The article provides a thorough overview and explanation of issues related to stalking based on the current published literature.

Summary: This meta-analysis summarizes the results of 175 studies of stalking. In addition to looking at variations in prevalence between studies, the authors considered the definitions of stalking and described the closely-related set of behaviors termed “obsessive relational intrusion.” The authors created systematic typologies of types of stalkers, stalkers’ motivations, and types of stalking behaviors. Victims’ coping responses and the effects of stalking are also categorized. The majority of stalking victims are women. Because the majority of victims (79%) were acquainted with the stalker, and because half of all stalking was related to romantic relationships, the authors recommended looking at most stalking not only as criminal behavior or psychopathology, but as a type of “relationship terrorism” similar to other types of domestic violence.

Topics: effects; perpetration; prevalence; stalking

Walker, J., Archer, J., & Davies, M. (2005). Effects of rape on men: A descriptive analysis. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 34, 69-80. [Posted December 2006]

Key Points: Male victims of rape tend to react in an emotionally “controlled” way (calm, composed or subdued) immediately after the event. Long-term effects of sexual assault on men include depression, anger, anxiety, and emotional distancing from others.

Summary: To describe the experiences of male rape victims who were not in a clinical setting, men who had been anally raped were recruited to participate in a mail-in survey. Forty men provided details of the assault, their immediate reactions, and the long-term effects. Seventy percent of the men were between the ages of 16-25 when the incident occurred. Only 10% of the rapes were committed by strangers.

Most men (87%) felt frozen fear, helplessness, or submission during the attack, although some (27%) were able to fight back at least somewhat. The majority of men reported that feeling helpless and out of control was worse than the sexual aspects of the assault. Almost all of the men reported long-term depression as a consequence of the assault, and most experienced long-term confusion about their sexual identity.

Recommendations included providing male victims the same support services offered to women, and more community education and outreach to increase awareness of the prevalence and impact of male rape.

Topics: effects; male rape; survivors

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updated 09/18/08