While some researchers question whether women can be more vulnerable to sexual assault because of personal characteristics and/or behavioral styles, typical research designs into this question draw on retrospective comparisons of victims and non-victims, making it difficult to determine whether the observed differences are causes, correlates, or consequences of the victimization experience. This paper reports on a longitudinal research design in which college women were surveyed upon entry into their first year of college and then again at the end of their first year. Findings show that victims of first-year college sexual assault were more depressed and tested lower on general psychological well-being scales than non-victims. Furthermore, victims reported greater use of intoxicants and a greater number of dating partners than non-victims. Victims appeared to have a more negative self-image than non-victims, seeing themselves as more compliant and less instrumental. They also were the most rejecting of traditional gender attitudes, whereas victims of verbal coercion and non-victims were the most accepting of such roles. When considering victims' backgrounds, it seems that childhood experiences with family violence and sexual abuse, combined with adolescent sexual victimization, made some women at greater risk than others for sexual victimization. (RJM)