Is Pregaming a Risk Factor for Sexual Victimization: A Campus Study Among College Women

• In Event: Interpersonal Victimization on College Campuses: Results from a Southern University’s Campus Climate Survey

Abstract

Pre-gaming, the act of drinking alcohol in a more private setting before going to a bar, party, or other social events, is increasingly pervasive among college students. Although pre-gaming has been linked to risk behaviors, hazardous drinking, and intoxication, the relationship between pre-gaming and sexual violence is understudied. This topic is of vital importance since female college students were reported to be more likely than males to pregame. The present study attempted to disentangle the relationships among pre-gaming motivations, pre-gaming, and sexual victimization among 4,342 college women. Three research questions were addressed: (1) what is the frequency of pre-gaming among these college women and by their demographic factors? (2) what are the motivations for pre-gaming among those who rarely pregame and those who often pregame? (3) what is the relationship between pre-gaming and sexual victimization (sexually verbal harassment, unwanted sexual touching, sexual assault, sexual assault related to voluntarily drinking), controlling for grade, race, student status, and Greek affiliation? We found that female students were evenly distributed across different levels of pre-gaming, more students pregame to save money, and more frequent pre-gaming was associated with more sexual assault. Findings are informative to future interventions and policies that aim to inform students about possible risks associated with this drinking practice.

Authors

• Caihong R. Li, University of Kentucky

• Joesph M. Calvert, University of Kentucky

• Xian Wu, University of Kentucky

• Jaspreet Chahal, University of Kentucky

• Diane Follingstad, University of Kentucky