Assigned 45 rape victims with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to stress inoculation training (SIT), prolonged exposure (PE), supportive counseling, or wait-list. All conditions produced improvements on PTSD symptoms, rape-related distress, general anxiety, and depression. SIT produced significantly more improvement on PTSD symptoms than did…

Examined rape-supportive attitudes among male college students (n=160) who varied by campus housing arrangement (single-sex residence halls, coeducational residence halls, fraternities) and exposure to education on sexual violence. Findings suggest that coeducational residence hall residents hold significantly less traditional ideas of gender…

Examines trends in the well being of Swedish youth to determine whether they show improvement or deterioration since the passage of the 1979 corporal punishment ban. Data collected from various national sources indicate that rates of involvement in crime, substance use, rape, and suicide have decreased. Trends in rates of nonsexual assaults are…

Examined dating violence in a racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of students (N=939). Results reveal that males were more likely to attack a dating partner when they had witnessed interparental violence; believed that male-female dating violence was justifiable; used alcohol/drugs; or were the recipients of dating violence.…

Explores gender, class, and ethnicity differences of 400 undergraduate students to assess their attitudes toward rape victims. Although no significant differences were found by class or ethnicity, a significant difference was found by gender. Men reported a higher score than women, denoting more unfavorable attitudes toward rape victims. (MKA)

Examines the effects of a university course designed to train peer facilitators to conduct rape education workshops, Campus Acquaintance Rape Education (CARE). Participants (N=74) experienced comprehensive attitude change; both men and women participants became more willing and able to directly express themselves and assert their needs in ways…

Sex differences are investigated in the use of sexual aggression in the dating relationships of single adult heterosexuals (N=380 males, 241 females; mean age 22.5). This study replicates and extends previous work by simultaneously testing the predictive ability of variables from three domains: social-environment, relational-environment, and…

Examines whether two trauma characteristics that are hypothesized to relate to perceptions of safety--assault location and assailant identity--predict rate and severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in female rape victims. Contrary to prediction, women assaulted by dangerous assailants reported significantly more severe PTSD symptoms…

Assessed predicted psychological differences between denying (n=30) and admitting (n=72) male sex offenders within the framework of Eysenck's theory on the personality of criminals. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and Gudjonsson's Compliance Questionnaire (CQ) were administered to consenting participants who were probationers in…

Examined personal beliefs and perceptions of cultural stereotypes surrounding rape victims. Primarily white college students listed their beliefs and perceptions and rated a specific rape victim accordingly. Students' personal beliefs tended to focus more on perceptions of victim reactions to the rape rather than rape myths. However, their…

Individuals who are high in rape myth acceptance (RMA) have been found to report a high proclivity to rape. In a series of three studies, the authors examined whether the relationship between RMA and self-reported rape proclivity was mediated by anticipated sexual arousal or anticipated enjoyment of sexually dominating the rape victim. Results of…

Past research has shown that date rape is a crime that is committed with surprising frequency, particularly on college campuses, and that college men may hold a number of rape-tolerant attitudes that make this crime more likely. In the present research, 300 men and women college students read one of three vignettes, varying the type of descriptive…

This study assessed the association between spirituality and psychopathology in a group of sexual abuse victims and controls with a focus on whether spirituality moderated the association between sexual trauma and psychopathology. Seventy-one sexual trauma victims were compared to 25 control subjects on spiritual well-being, the Eating Disorder…

A secondary analysis of data collected from 1,130 young people ages 15 to 24 in a population-based household survey to assess the reproductive health needs of young people in three communities in Jamaica was conducted to determine the relationships among three measures of sexual violence, background variables, three measures of sexual risk taking…

School counselors need to have accurate and age-appropriate prevention education information in order to counsel teens on drug use. This article presents developmentally specific prevention materials for the most important emerging substances of abuse: Ecstasy, methamphetamine, cough and cold medication, prescription opiates and stimulants, and…