A Within-Subjects Analysis of Men's Alcohol-Involved and Nonalcohol-Involved Sexual Assaults

Emotion Regulation Difficulties Moderate the Association Between Typical Drinking and Sexual Assault Victimization Among Sexual and Gender Minority University Students

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) students report higher alcohol consumption, emotion regulation difficulties, and sexual assault victimization severity than cisgender, heterosexual individuals. A sample of 754 undergraduate students completed an online survey assessing alcohol use, emotion regulation, and sexual victimization. Regression analyses indicated that, among SGM students with higher emotion regulation difficulties, typical weekly drinking was positively associated with sexual assault victimization severity, but among cisgender, heterosexual students and SGM students with lower emotion regulation difficulties, there was no association between drinking and victimization severity. Thus, SGM students benefit from interventions targeting alcohol use and emotion regulation difficulties.

Variations in Emotional, Sexual, and Physical Intimate Partner Violence Among Women in Uganda: A Multilevel Analysis

Evidence shows that a significant proportion of ever-partnered women suffer some form of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetuated by male partners. The prevalence of IPV in sub-Saharan African countries is considerably higher than global estimates. Although existing studies show the effect of women's and intimate male partner's characteristics on IPV, knowledge on how these factors increase or reduce women's risk to specific types of IPV is limited. Using the 2016 Ugandan Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS), we examine regional variations in women's and intimate male partner's characteristics and their effect on emotional, sexual, and physical violence perpetuated by men and experienced by women in Uganda. The result shows that women's educational status is a significant predictor of all forms of IPV, whereas other characteristics, such as employment and housing ownership, have differential effects on specific types of IPV. Less educated women were more likely to experience emotional, sexual, and physical violence. Alcohol abuse was a significant determinant of men perpetuating all types of IPV; other male characteristics had differential effects on specific types of IPV. Male partners who abuse alcohol "often" and "sometimes" were more likely to commit acts of emotional, sexual, and physical violence against their female intimate partners. The findings also show that ~5%, ~8%, and ~2% of the variance in emotional, sexual, and physical violence (respectively; in the final models) are attributable to regional differences. The findings suggest the need for interventions aimed at increasing women's access to higher education, working with men and boys to reduce the occurrence of alcohol abuse and address harmful constructions of masculinity, and promoting gender equality among men as well as women.

Sexual Aggression Analogues Used in Alcohol Administration Research: Critical Review of Their Correspondence to Alcohol-Involved Sexual Assaults

BACKGROUND

Alcohol administration studies are crucial because causal questions about alcohol's role in human behavior can only be answered through experimental research that randomly assigns participants to drink conditions. The primary goal of this review was to catalogue the characteristics of experimental analogues used in alcohol administration research to assess men's sexual aggression proclivity and evaluate the extent to which they represent the scope of alcohol-involved sexual aggression. Although this review focuses on sexual aggression analogues, the identified methodological issues are relevant to a wide range of alcohol administration studies.

METHODS

Online databases were searched for published studies that randomly assigned participants to drink conditions and assessed participants' sexual aggression proclivity with an experimental analogue. Characteristics of the analogues were coded by both authors.

RESULTS

Seventeen studies were identified that used 12 unique experimental analogues. All of the analogues depicted a completed or potential sexual assault in an apartment between a male perpetrator and female victim who did not know each other well. This information was presented in written (n = 7), audio (n = 1), video (n = 3), or virtual simulation (n = 1) format. Sexual aggression proclivity was measured through participants' self-reports (n = 10) and behavioral responses (n = 2). Perpetrators primarily used physical force which the woman verbally and physically resisted. Only one analogue depicted behavioral signs of the woman's alcohol impairment; none included signs of the man's alcohol impairment.

CONCLUSIONS

These analogues were designed to address important theoretical questions; however, they do not represent the full range of alcohol-involved sexual assaults. This hampers the development of evidence-based prevention and treatment programs because we do not know whether these findings generalize to other types of sexual assaults (e.g., with incapacitated victims, within serious relationships, with sexual and other gender minorities). Funding agencies need to support more alcohol administration research in order to provide a strong foundation for the development of effective interventions.

Correlates of intimate partner violence among urban women in sub-Saharan Africa

Introduction

The dynamics of intimate partner violence (IPV)—one of the world’s leading public health problems—in urban Africa remain poorly understood. Yet, urban areas are key to the future of women’s health in Africa.

Study objectives

We explored survivor-, partner-, and household-level correlates of prevalence rates for types of IPV in urban SSA women.

Method

The study uses DHS data from 42,143 urban women aged 15–49 in 27 SSA countries. Associations at the bivariate level were examined using the Pearson Chi-square test. The modified Poisson regression test estimated the relative prevalence of IPV subtypes in the study population at the multivariate level.

Results

Approximately 36% of women in urban SSA experienced at least one form of IPV; 12.8% experienced two types; and 4.6% experienced all three types. SSA urban women who had only primary-level education, had 3 or more living children, were informally employed, were in polygynous unions, or who approved of wife-beating similarly displayed higher adjusted prevalence rates for all three forms of IPV compared respectively to their counterparts without formal education, without a living child, were unemployed, in monogamous unions, or who do not approve of wife-beating. On the other hand, the region’s urban women who began cohabiting between ages 25 and 35 years or who lived in higher wealth households showed consistently lower adjusted prevalence rates for all three forms of IPV relative to their counterparts who began cohabiting before 18 years or who lived in lower wealth households. Compared to their counterparts without formal education, without a living child, or whose partners did not have formal education, women with secondary and higher education, with 1–2 living children, or whose partners had only primary level schooling displayed higher adjusted prevalence rates for both IPEV and IPPV, but not for IPSV. However, relative to their counterparts whose partners were aged 25 years or below, living with a partner aged 40 years and above was associated with statistically significant reduced prevalence rates for IPPV and IPSV, but not for IPEV. Only for IPPV did women with partners educated at secondary and above levels display statistically significant higher adjusted prevalence rates relative to their counterparts with uneducated partners. Also, solely for IPPV did women who began cohabiting between ages 18 and 24 years or whose partners were employed (whether formally or informally) show decreased adjusted prevalence rates relative to their counterparts who started cohabiting before 18 years or whose partners were unemployed. In addition, only for IPSV did women aged 40 years and above or living in middle wealth households show statistically significant reduced adjusted prevalence rates relative to their counterparts aged less than 25 years or living in lower wealth households.

Discussion and conclusion

By 2030, the majority of SSA women will be urban dwellers. Complexities surround IPV in urban SSA, highlighting the unique dynamics of the problem in this setting. While affirming the link between IPV and marital power inequities and dynamics, findings suggest that the specific correlates of prevalence rates for different IPV sub-types in urban SSA women can, at once, be both similar and unique. The contextual drivers of the differences and similarities in the correlates of the prevalence rates of IPV sub-types among the region’s urban women need further interrogation.

Do Men Use More Sexually Aggressive Tactics When Intoxicated? A Within-Person Examination of Naturally Occurring Episodes of Sex

OBJECTIVE

Men's alcohol use has been linked to sexual assault perpetration. Yet, it is unknown whether within naturally-occurring sexual encounters men use more sexually aggressive tactics when they are intoxicated. The present study considered whether college men's perceived intoxication at the time of sex increased their self-reported use of verbal persuasion, physical force, and encouraged intoxication of partner as tactics to convince a woman to have sex.

METHOD

As part of a 56-day daily report study, 298 college freshman males reported 1,832 episodes of sexual activity with female partners. Using multilevel modeling, we considered the within-person effects of subjective intoxication, sexual precedence (new versus previous partner), and perceived partner sexual interest on male use of sexually aggressive strategies within each sexual encounter. We also considered whether the impact of event-specific intoxication was moderated by individual differences in hostility toward women, delinquency, and impersonal sex.

RESULTS

Greater subjective intoxication at the time of sex predicted greater use of verbal persuasion and encouraging intoxication of partner. Although intoxication did not predict physical force directly, there were indirect effects via greater verbal persuasion and encouraging partner intoxication. Event-specific intoxication did not interact with any of the individual difference variables and only hostility toward women contributed positively to use of event-specific sexually aggression.

CONCLUSIONS

Men's intoxication at the time of sexual activity increases their use of sexually aggressive strategies within naturally-occurring sexual encounters. Findings help to explain the robust relationship between alcohol use and sexual assault found in college populations.

Emotion Regulation Moderates the Relationship Between Alcohol Consumption and the Perpetration of Sexual Aggression

Sexual assault remains a significant problem on college campuses, and previous research identifies alcohol and emotion regulation as potential contributors to perpetration. Data were collected from 101 male undergraduates, assessing emotion regulation difficulties, sexual aggression perpetration toward women, and alcohol consumption. Results showed that emotion regulation moderated the relationship between alcohol consumption and sexual aggression, such that those with high emotion regulation difficulties were more likely to behave in a sexually aggressive manner. Thus, men with high emotion regulation difficulties may be more likely than those with low difficulties to use alcohol to overcome their inhibitions and perpetrate sexual aggression.