Citation

Swartout KM, Swartout AG, White JW. Psychol. Violence 2011; 1(1): 29-40.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/a0022069

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Objective: Little research has drawn attention to distinct patterns of sexual victimization across time, although previous findings strongly indicate heterogeneity. Using longitudinal data, we tested a series of latent class growth models in an attempt to find meaningful patterns of sexual victimization frequency among female college students. Method: A sample of women (n = 1,580) answered questions at 5 time points concerning their childhood, adolescent, and collegiate sexual experiences. Latent class growth analysis was used with frequencies of sexual victimization at each of the 5 time points as indicators. Results: A 4-class model was selected on the basis of its fit to the data and its interpretability. The 4 classes are interpreted as low/none, moderate-increasing, decreasing, and high-increasing trajectories of sexual victimization. Negative childhood experiences—childhood sexual abuse, witnessing domestic violence, and parental physical punishment—partially explained latent trajectory membership. Conclusion: Possible implications of this research include the development of more specialized primary, secondary, and tertiary sexual assault prevention programs based on the victimization trajectories indicated by these analyses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)