Citation

Han SC, Gallagher MW, Franz MR, Chen MS, Cabral FM, Marx BP. J. Interpers. Violence 2013; 28(12): 2505-2520.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0886260513479030

PMID

23486851

Abstract

Prior research has indicated that childhood sexual abuse (CSA), alcohol use, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are important risk factors for adult sexual assault (ASA). A notable limitation of this prior work, however, is that it has almost exclusively focused on heterosexual women. The present study sought to remedy this by examining the extent to which CSA, alcohol use, and PTSD symptoms related to ASA among lesbians (n = 122) and gay men (n = 117). Using structural equation modeling, we found that alcohol use was the best predictor of ASA among lesbians whereas CSA was the best predictor of ASA among gay men. These results suggest that certain risk factors may be differentially related to ASA among groups with different sexual orientations. Such findings deepen our current understanding of ASA and offer important directions for reducing the risk of ASA for lesbian and gay individuals.

Language: en