Alcohol and Aggression Experienced by College Women

Many
studies have linked alcohol with sexual assault and rape on college
campuses. To examine whether alcohol consumption is temporally
related to victimization among college women, researchers interviewed
94 female college students in New York (using a validated calendar
method) to determine daily alcohol intake and experiences of sexual
and non-sexual aggression over a 6-week period.

• Fourteen
  women (15%) experienced at least 1 incident of sexual aggression
  (ranging from unwanted contact to coerced sexual intercourse),
  while 19 (20%) experienced at least 1 incident of non-sexual
  aggression (physical violence such as being pushed, kicked, hit,
  or threatened with a knife).
• Women
  were significantly more likely to experience sexual aggression
  (odds ratio, OR, 9.0) and non-sexual aggression (OR 7.5) on days
  they had consumed >=5 drinks than on days when they had abstained.
• They
  were also significantly more likely to experience sexual aggression
  (OR 3.2) and non-sexual aggression (OR 2.9) on days they had
  consumed <5 drinks than on days they had abstained.

Comments:

This small study
provides further evidence that alcohol increases college women’s risk
of experiencing sexual and non-sexual aggression. Its findings
support efforts on college campuses to teach female students the dangers
of alcohol (especially heavier intake) and ways to adopt lower-risk
drinking habits. These efforts must be coupled with initiatives that
focus on perpetrators and address the role alcohol plays in their
violent actions.

Rosanne
T. Guerriero, MPH

Reference:

Parks

KA, Fals-Stewart W. The temporal relationship between
college women’s alcohol consumption and victimization experiences. Alcohol
Clin Exp Res. 2004;28(4):625–629.
(view
abstract)