A Comparison of Risk Factors for Alcohol-Involved and Alcohol-Uninvolved Sexual Aggression Perpetration

Much research has found that alcohol use is associated with sexual aggression (SA) perpetration among male college students. To increase understanding of this association, the present study examined whether other established risk factors for SA perpetration in this population were associated differentially with incidents that were preceded by alcohol use and incidents that were not preceded by alcohol use. The sample included 638 male college students who completed self-report measures of seven risk factors and SA perpetration during their first and second years of enrollment at a large, public university in the southeastern United States. A multivariate, multinomial logistic regression model revealed none of the seven factors increased risk for both alcohol-involved and alcohol-uninvolved SA perpetration. The model did identify binge drinking as a risk factor for alcohol-involved SA perpetration and impulsivity, rape myth attitudes, and hostility toward women as risk factors for alcohol-uninvolved perpetration. If these results can be replicated, then they would suggest that different risk factors should be targeted to optimize the effect of preventive interventions on the occurrence of the two types of SA perpetration.