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Aggressive behavior
05, 2021;47 (3): 284-295.

Protective behavioral strategies for sexual aggression and risky sexual behavior.

Teresa A Treat, William R Corbin, Richard J Viken
Author Information
  1. Teresa A Treat: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA. ORCID
  2. William R Corbin: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.
  3. Richard J Viken: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
PMID: 33492751 DOI: 10.1002/ab.21949

Abstract

Sexual aggression (SA) is a serious public-health problem on college campuses, and there is a pressing need for basic research fostering the development of novel prevention strategies. The current study (a) developed measures of protective behavioral strategies (PBS) for sexual aggression (SA) and risky sex (RS); (b) characterized college men's PBS use; and (c) evaluated whether those who reported engaging in SA and RS showed lower PBS use. Undergraduate men from two universities (n = 567) who endorsed sexual attraction toward women completed measures of PBS, SA, RS, rape-supportive and sociosexual attitudes, and alcohol consumption. On average, participants reported using PBS for SA and RS fairly often, but a sizeable number indicated that they seldom or never used the strategies. Men who reported SA engagement in the last year, relative to their peers, endorsed sharply lower reliance on SA PBS and RS PBS. Men who reported at least one RS behavior in the last year used RS PBS far less often than their peers. The PBS measures converged as expected with other attitudinal and behavioral measures. The new PBS measures reference cognitive-behavioral approaches that a large percentage of college men use on a regular basis, making them potentially acceptable prevention targets. Further, men at greater risk of exhibiting SA are much less likely to take steps to reduce the risks associated with sexual behavior, in comparison with their peers. Thus, future work could evaluate the potential usefulness of incorporating PBS for SA and RS into primary prevention programming in both domains.

Keywords

alcohol protective behavioral strategies risky sex sexual aggression

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Grants

  1. R34 AA027713/NIAAA NIH HHS

MeSH Term

Aggression
Alcohol Drinking
Female
Humans
Male
Men
Risk-Taking
Sexual Behavior
Universities
Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Article has an altmetric score of 14

Word Cloud

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