Victimization Exposures Prior to and During College: Effects on Mental Health and Sexual Risk-Taking

• In Event: 58.030 - From Start to Finish: A Four-Year Study of College Student Victimization and Bystander Behavior

Abstract

Background
Research indicates that individuals entering college with past victimization histories encounter more adjustment difficulties (Holt et al., 2014; Banyard & Cantor, 2004) and are less likely to complete college (Duncan, 2000). This in part could be due to the relation between victimization exposures and psychological distress (Norman et al., 2012), which in turn is linked to higher college attrition rates (Breslau, 2008). Limited research suggests that victimization is also related to sexual risk taking (Black et al., 2010), reflecting an additional behavior that could compromise students’ college experiences. Based on the cumulative risk model (Sameroff, 2000), individuals exposed to multiple victimization forms are potentially at greatest risk for deleterious outcomes across a range of domains. However, to date there has not been a comprehensive examination of how victimization exposures prior to and while at college affect students’ psychological functioning and sexual risk taking behaviors.

Research Aims
This study examines how victimization exposures before and during college relate to anxiety, depression, and sexual risk taking among 4th year college students.

Methods
College students (n = 174; 77% female) from two universities completed surveys their 1st and 4th years. The Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ; Finkelhor et al., 2005) was used to measure child maltreatment (physical and verbal) before college; dating violence (physical and emotional; before/during college); bias-based harassment (at college); and lifetime sexual assault. Single items assessed bullying prior to and at college. Variables were computed to identify whether students had experienced multiple victimizations before college and/or while at college. The PHQ-9 and GAD-7 measured depression and anxiety, respectively. Finally, students reported frequency of casual sex, sex under the influence, and unprotected sex.

Results
Approximately 21% of participants met the clinical cut-off for depression and 13% met the clinical cut-off for anxiety. Over half (54.3%) of students had engaged in casual sex, 70.9% reported sex under the influence of substances, and 27.8% had engaged in unprotected sex. Regression models controlling for gender were run predicting anxiety and depression based on multiple victimization before college, multiple victimization at college, and lifetime sexual assault. Results indicated that only lifetime sexual assault predicted anxiety (β = 2.4, p < .05) and depression (β = 2.4, p < .05). Analogous models were run with victimization exposures predicting sexual risk taking; no statistically significant relationships emerged. Latent class analysis will be conducted for a more nuanced consideration of the overlap between victimization exposures and their relation to mental health and sexual risk taking.

Significance
Findings point to the salience of sexual assault for college students’ mental health. Moreover, they indicate that some college students are resilient in the face of multiple victimization exposures. Finally, results suggest that sexual risk taking is common and might not adversely affect students’ mental health; given the potentially significant negative effects of such behaviors, however, psycho-educational programs are critical.

Authors

• Melissa K. Holt, Boston University

• Chelsey Bowman, Boston University