Sexual minority status and interpersonal victimization in college men.

Abstract

Sexual minority men are at increased risk for sexual victimization at all ages compared to heterosexual men; yet, most research on victimization focuses on the experiences of heterosexual women. This study compares the rates of multiple forms of interpersonal violence (violence perpetrated by another person) in a sample of sexual minority status college men and heterosexual men on campus. Participants (n = 53 sexual minority men, n = 364 heterosexual) completed an anonymous web survey containing measures of childhood abuse, adolescent/adult sexual victimization, adolescent/adult sexual aggression, intimate partner victimization and aggression, rape empathy, PTSD symptoms, and social desirability. ANCOVAs, covarying for demographic characteristics and social desirability, revealed that sexual minority men were more likely to experience the most severe forms of adolescent/adult sexual victimization as well as childhood emotional abuse. There were no differences in rates of sexual aggression or intimate partner violence. Sexual minority men who experienced sexual assault were more likely to report being assaulted by other men than were heterosexual men. Regarding self-reported sexual aggression, we found no differences in rates of sexual aggression. Sexual minority men had higher levels of rape empathy and rape acknowledgment than heterosexual men. Our results indicate sexual minority men are at higher risk than heterosexual men for the most severe forms of sexual victimization and experience different psychological consequences of sexual victimization indicating there may be a need for specialized intervention services. Public significance statementWe found that sexual minority college men were more likely to experience rape than were heterosexual college men. However, we found no differences in rates of sexual aggression, suggesting sexual minority men are equally likely to be assaulted by heterosexual men as by other sexual minority men. Finally, we found sexual minority college men had higher levels of empathy for rape victims suggesting differences in attitudes and potentially recovery processes.

Self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-concept and intimate image diffusion among deaf adolescents: A structural equation model analysis

“…In their studies, Crowe (2020) andFindley et al (2015) noted that individuals with disabilities had increased levels of psychological distress and difficulties which were associated with discrimination, poor mental health, impaired self-efficacy and lower self-esteem, as well as intimate partner violence as a result of compulsive diffusion of intimate/sexually explicit images. The findings in this study provided support for previous studies among deaf individuals who reported a relationship between self-efficacy and reported incidents of negative behaviour and stressful life events, such as sexting (Lenhart, 2009;Makgale and Platterner, 2017), sexual and physical assault (Anderson et al, 2017;Crowe, 2020;Mahat and Scoloveno, 2010), alcohol abuse (Christiansen et al, 2002) and communication and social barriers (Cuevas et al, 2019;Marschark et al, 2018). This study found self-concept to be a negatively significant factor that influenced intimate image diffusion among deaf adolescents.…”

Differences in Rape Acknowledgment and Mental Health Outcomes Across Transgender, Nonbinary, and Cisgender Bisexual Youth

“…Considering sexual orientation, cisgender sexual minority college men reported nearly 5 times higher rates of rape acknowledgment than their heterosexual peers (22.7% vs. 4.3%; Anderson, Wandrey, Klossner, Cahill, & Delahanty, 2017). In addition to sexual orientation differences in rape acknowledgment, there are gender differences in rape acknowledgment.…”

Patterns of childhood maltreatment and intimate partner violence, emotion dysregulation, and mental health symptoms among lesbian, gay, and bisexual emerging adults: A three-step latent class approach

“…Survivors of IPV often have been exposed to CAN, and studies have directed attention towards this association by examining lifetime victimization in interpersonal relationships-childhood maltreatment and IPV-in LGB individuals (Anderson, Wandrey, Klossner, Cahill, & Delahanty, 2017;Balsam et al, 2005). The trajectory between CAN and IPV is supported by the social learning theory (Bandura, 1977), which postulates that children learn how to behave in intimate partnerships through modeling relationships they are exposed to during their childhood.…”