Citation

Schry AR, Maddox BB, White SW. Addict. Behav. 2016; 61: 117-120.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall (0436), Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. Electronic address: sww@vt.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.05.022

PMID

27310461

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: We sought to examine social anxiety as a risk factor for alcohol-related sexual victimization among college women.

METHOD: Women (Time 1: n = 574; Time 2: n = 88) who reported consuming alcohol at least once during the assessment timeframe participated. Social anxiety, alcohol use, alcohol-related consequences, and sexual victimization were assessed twice, approximately two months apart. Logistic regressions were used to examine social anxiety as a risk factor for alcohol-related sexual victimization at both time points.

RESULTS: Longitudinally, women high in social anxiety were approximately three times more likely to endorse unwanted alcohol-related sexual experiences compared to women with low to moderate social anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests social anxiety, a modifiable construct, increases risk for alcohol-related sexual victimization among college women. Implications for clinicians and risk-reduction program developers are discussed.

Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Language: en