Alcohol use in college students continues to be a formidable public health concern in university populations due to the widespread effects that harmful drinking may have on students and their communities. The acute and chronic effects of alcohol consumption are well-documented, but the motivating factors and influences behind risky drinking are less defined. The current literature suggests coping to be one of these numerous factors, emphasizing the importance of behavioral treatment being used in intervention programs. Coping occurs secondary to trauma and emotional hardship, with sexual assault being an unfortunately prevalent cause on college campuses. This study aims investigate the relationship between sexual assault, coping, and drinking behaviors in a population of college women.
The study’s sample was composed of 104 first-year undergraduate women from a large southeastern university in the United States (N=104, 75.5% white, mean age = 18.4 yrs.). While 203 students were initially considered participants, 47% were lost to follow up rendering 104 total. Participants completed two sets of questionnaires, the first occurring at the beginning of the fall semester (very first semester for freshman) and the second occurring near the end of this same semester. The questionnaires assessed the following measures: demographics, history of unwanted sexual experiences (via Sexual Experiences Survey), drinking motives (via Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised), and prior month alcohol consumption (via Timeline Followback for Drinking). The data was analyzed using bivariate correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analyses.
Results of the analyses found a history of sexual assault, both lifetime and recent (within 3 months) to be positively associated with coping drinking motives in both the beginning and end of semester surveys (p<0.05 for all four correlations). Additionally, a strong association was found between lifetime sexual assault experience and recent sexual assault experience in the end of semester survey data (p<0.001). A short longitudinal analysis also suggested that scores of coping motive drinking were significantly different between women who were and women who were not sexual assaulted during their first semester of school, with higher scores occurring for the women who were sexually assaulted during this time (p<0.001).
Takeaway: a history of sexual assault, both lifetime and recent, is suggested to have significant implications for coping mechanisms and drinking behaviors in college women. When designing treatment and therapy interventions for sexual assault victims, harmful alcohol consumption may often be included as a secondary treatment target.