Citation

Zerubavel N, Messman-Moore TL. Violence Against Women 2013; 19(12): 1518-1537.

Affiliation

Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1077801213517566

PMID

24379216

Abstract

The current study examined sexual victimization and two barriers to young women's sexual assertiveness: fear of sexual powerlessness and cognitive emotion dysregulation. College women (N = 499) responded to surveys and indicated that fear of sexual powerlessness and, to a lesser extent, cognitive emotion dysregulation were barriers to sexual assertiveness. Compared with nonvictims, sexually victimized women had greater problems with sexual assertiveness, fear of sexual powerlessness, and cognitive emotion dysregulation. Among victims, fear of sexual powerlessness and emotion dysregulation interacted to impede sexual assertiveness. Findings support targeting identified barriers in interventions to improve sexual assertiveness and reduce risk for unwanted sexual experiences and sexual victimization.

Language: en