Citation

Littleton H, Grills-Taquechel AE, Axsom DK. Violence Vict. 2009; 24(4): 439-457.

Affiliation

Sam Houston State University, USA. hll002@shsu.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Springer Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

19694350

Abstract

Alcohol is the most common "rape drug," with up to two-thirds of victims consuming alcohol prior to the assault. Surprisingly, little research has examined the assault and postassault experiences of victims who were impaired or incapacitated as a result of substance use, including alcohol, during a rape. Thus, the current study evaluated the assault and postassault experiences of a sample of 340 nonimpaired, impaired, and incapacitated college rape victims. Results supported that these three groups differed in several assault characteristics, including threats by the assailant, resistance by the victim, and relationship with the assailant. In addition, impairment and incapacitation were associated with several postassault factors, including self-blame, stigma, and problematic alcohol use. Results also highlighted similarities in victims' experiences, including levels of postassault distress. Implications of the findings for future research investigating impaired and incapacitated sexual assault victims are discussed.

Language: en