Drugging Victimization of College Students: Individual, Behavioral, and Situational Risks

• In Event: It's Not What You Think: Unpacking Drugging Victimization and Perpetration Using Different Methodologies

Abstract

Interest in “drugging” or “drink spiking” has increased, with much focus on drugging victimization within the context of sexual assault, and particularly among college students. Estimates of drugging victimization prevalence in this context vary widely, however, and the topic has drawn skepticism given the challenge of distinguishing between involuntary drugging and voluntary alcohol consumption. Despite a growing body of research on drug-facilitated sexual assault, as well as work on motivations for and consequences of drugging, little research has gone beyond these foci. To address this gap, this study will use data from the Campus Sexual Assault (CSA) Study, which surveyed 6,821 college students (5,446 women and 1,375 men) and the Historically Black College and University Campus Sexual Assault (HBCU-CSA) Study, which surveyed 3,951 college women. Both studies collected information about students’ experience with drugging victimization (n=350 [CSA] and n=164 [HBCU-CSA] respondents); these are not limited to sexual assault situations. We will describe the context of drugging victimization (its prevalence, types of drug(s) used, and mode of delivery) and identify the individual (e.g., race, gender), behavioral (e.g., substance use/abuse, sexual risk-taking), and situational (e.g., partying frequency, drink monitoring) characteristics that place college students at an increased risk of being drugged.

Authors

• Tara Warner, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

• Christopher Allen, University of Massachusetts Lowell

• Christopher Krebs, RTI International

• Christine Lindquist, RTI International

• Bonnie Sue Fisher, University of Cincinnati

• Sandra Martin, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill