Caroline Wright, Psy.D.
Influence of prior trauma and gender on perceptions of sexual encounters on sexual education efforts in emerging adults.
Chair: Thomas Demaria, Ph.D.
Abstract
Recently there has been significant media attention regarding sexual assaults committed during emerging adulthood. Numerous studies have shown that traumatic experiences have negative consequences both physical and emotional. Research has also indicated that survivors of trauma could have some cognitive difficulties such as poor concentration and memory deficits. Due to the problems associated with trauma and the high rate of sexual assault during this time period, organizations are creating educational programs aimed at lowering the frequency of assault. Many of these programs target rape myth beliefs due to the positive correlations between endorsement of rape myths and one’s behavior and attitude towards survivors. In the present study, 137 emerging adults were recruited to participate in a sexual assault prevention intervention, which included watching 7 short videos of peers discussing the fallacy of rape myths. The purpose of the study was 1) to examine how one’s gender, history of sexual victimization, and current symptoms of trauma would predict endorsement of rape myths both before and after the intervention and 2) to evaluate the intervention and the affect it has on endorsement of rape myth beliefs. Although this study’s nonexperimental design prevents definitive conclusions, the results showed that males endorsed more belief in rape myths than females before the intervention and that both females and participants with high levels of trauma symptoms predicted more change in endorsement of rape myth beliefs after the intervention. These findings point to future research opportunities and clinical implications when examining educational efforts regarding sexual assault prevention.