Women's vulnerability to sexual assault from adolescence to young adulthood

Purpose: To study the vulnerability to sexual assault among undergraduate w omen. Methods: The respondents were demographically representative of undergradua te women in state-supported universities in the United States. Participants (N = 1569) were surveyed using the Sexual Experiences Survey at the beginn ing and end of their Ist year and at the end of each of the next 3 years of their undergraduate career. Survival analysis was used to determine the ri sk of initial victimization during specific time intervals from the age of 14 years through the collegiate years as a function of prior victimization. Odds analyses were used to analyze the main and interactive effects of vic timization at prior time periods on the probability of victimization at sub sequent time periods. Results: Victimization before the age of 14 years almost doubled the risk o f later adolescent victimization (1.8). Furthermore, for those with and wit hout childhood victimization, the risk of an initial sexual assault after t he age of 14 years occurred most often in late adolescence, and declined ea ch year thereafter (aged 18-22 years). Sexual victimization among universit y women was highest for those who had been first assaulted in early adolesc ence (4.6 times nonvictims). Detailed analyses revealed that the more sever e the adolescent experience the greater the risk of collegiate revictimizat ion. Adolescent victims of rape or attempted rape, in particular, were 4.4 times more likely to be as seriously assaulted during their Ist year of col lege. Conclusion: A linear path model is suggested. Childhood victimization incre ased the risk of adolescent victimization, which in turn significantly affe cted the likelihood of revictimization among college women. (C) Society for Adolescent Medicine, 2000.