Work

Trajectories and predictors of sexually aggressive behaviors during emerging adulthood.

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To assess longitudinal trajectories of college males' sexually aggressive behaviors and determine time-varying individual- and peer-level risk factors that differentiate men who follow these different paths. METHOD: Our analytic sample consisted of 795 men who participated in a longitudinal study on high-risk behaviors among college students. The sample was surveyed at the end of each of their four years at university on a variety of measures, including sexual aggression (SA) and its hypothesized risk factors (hostile masculinity, number of sexual partners, alcohol misuse, and peer norms). RESULTS: Using latent growth mixture modeling, we found four distinct SA trajectories - (1) consistently high, (2) decreasing, (3) increasing, and (4) consistently low. Multinomial logistic regression revealed that hostile masculinity and peer norms positively predicted trajectory membership at times when each trajectory reflected a high level of SA. CONCLUSIONS: focus on these risk factors throughout the college years, perhaps through annual self-assessments.

Source: Psychology of Violence

DOI: 10.1037/a0030624

Authors: Martie P. Thompson, Kevin M. Swartout, Mary P. Koss

Institutions: Clemson University, Georgia State University, University of Arizona

Language: English

Topic: Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies

Subfield: Gender Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development