TY - JOUR
T1 - Sexual Assault, Mental Health, and Alcohol Use in College Women
T2 - The Role of Resilience and Campus Belonging
AU - Firkey, Madison K.
AU - Tully, Lyric K.
AU - Schiros, Ashley M.
AU - Antshel, Kevin M.
AU - Woolf-King, Sarah E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
PY - 2023/7
Y1 - 2023/7
N2 - Understanding the mental health outcomes of sexual assault among college women is a public health priority. Although research has identified risk factors for the development of mental health problems following an assault, few studies have utilized a strengths-based approach to identify personal and social resources that may mediate the sexual assault–mental health link. Prior studies allude to the role of resilience and perceived campus belonging in explaining the relationship between sexual assault and mental health. This study represents the first application of the stress process model using a large sample of college women to examine (a) the association between sexual assault and mental health (i.e., psychological distress, suicidality, self-harm) and alcohol use problems and (b) the role of resilience and perceived campus belonging as partial mediators of these associations. Data were collected as part of the Spring 2021 American College Health Association National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA; n = 31,328, Mean age = 20.26, SD = 1.64, 58.8% White), a cross-sectional, online survey that samples college students from 143 self-selected United States colleges. To test our primary hypothesis, a structural regression model was conducted, which included a latent sexual assault predictor, manifest resilience and campus belonging mediators, a latent mental health outcome, and a manifest alcohol use problems outcome. Mental health and alcohol use problems were positively associated with sexual assault and negatively associated with resilience and campus belonging. Resilience partially mediated the association between sexual assault and mental health. Campus belonging partially mediated the association between sexual assault, mental health, and alcohol use problems. This model explained 23.2% of the variance in mental health and 5.9% of the variance in alcohol use. Resilience and campus belonging may represent modifiable factors that can be targeted in trauma-focused interventions in efforts to improve victimized college women’s mental health.
AB - Understanding the mental health outcomes of sexual assault among college women is a public health priority. Although research has identified risk factors for the development of mental health problems following an assault, few studies have utilized a strengths-based approach to identify personal and social resources that may mediate the sexual assault–mental health link. Prior studies allude to the role of resilience and perceived campus belonging in explaining the relationship between sexual assault and mental health. This study represents the first application of the stress process model using a large sample of college women to examine (a) the association between sexual assault and mental health (i.e., psychological distress, suicidality, self-harm) and alcohol use problems and (b) the role of resilience and perceived campus belonging as partial mediators of these associations. Data were collected as part of the Spring 2021 American College Health Association National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA; n = 31,328, Mean age = 20.26, SD = 1.64, 58.8% White), a cross-sectional, online survey that samples college students from 143 self-selected United States colleges. To test our primary hypothesis, a structural regression model was conducted, which included a latent sexual assault predictor, manifest resilience and campus belonging mediators, a latent mental health outcome, and a manifest alcohol use problems outcome. Mental health and alcohol use problems were positively associated with sexual assault and negatively associated with resilience and campus belonging. Resilience partially mediated the association between sexual assault and mental health. Campus belonging partially mediated the association between sexual assault, mental health, and alcohol use problems. This model explained 23.2% of the variance in mental health and 5.9% of the variance in alcohol use. Resilience and campus belonging may represent modifiable factors that can be targeted in trauma-focused interventions in efforts to improve victimized college women’s mental health.
KW - adult victims
KW - alcohol and drugs
KW - mental health and violence
KW - sexual assault
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85147779194&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85147779194&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/08862605231153884
DO - 10.1177/08862605231153884
M3 - Article
C2 - 36757066
AN - SCOPUS:85147779194
SN - 0886-2605
VL - 38
SP - 7990
EP - 8015
JO - Journal of Interpersonal Violence
JF - Journal of Interpersonal Violence
IS - 13-14
ER -