The impact of sexual enhancement alcohol expectancies and risky behavior on alcohol-involved rape among college women.

A structural equation model examined sexual enhancement alcohol expectancies, heavy episodic drinking (HED), and risky sexual behavior as correlates of alcohol-involved rape in a sample of 353 college women. Prevalence of alcohol-involved rape was 15.6%.

Perceived sexual control, sex-related alcohol expectancies and behavior predict substance-related sexual revictimization.

Objectives: Although numerous studies have documented linkages between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and later sexual revictimization, mechanisms underlying revictimization, particularly assaults occurring in the context of substance use, are not well-understood. Consistent with Traumagenic Dynamics theory, the present study tested a path model positing that lowered perceptions of sexual control resulting from CSA may be associated with increased sex-related alcohol expectancies and heightened likelihood of risky sexual behavior, which in turn, may predict adult substance-related rape.

Methods: Participants were 546 female college students who completed anonymous surveys regarding CSA and adult rape, perceptions of sexual control, sex-related alcohol expectancies, and likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behavior.