Abstract
The present study examined the mediating role of sexual assertiveness in the relationship between psychological, physical, and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and unprotected sex as a result of condom use resistance among sexually active young women attending community college. Women reported engagement in unprotected sex as a result of a partner’s use of one of 32 forms of condom use resistance (e.g., physical force, deception, or other forms of coercion to avoid using a condom during intercourse). Women ages 18–24 years (N = 212) attending community college were recruited through paper advertisements to complete assessments of social and dating behavior in the campus computer laboratory. Only the women with a history of sexual intercourse (N = 178; 84% of the sample) were included in analyses. More frequent engagement in unprotected sex as a result of a partner’s condom use resistance was associated with physical, psychological, and sexual IPV victimization. Sexual assertiveness mediated the relationship between physical IPV victimization and the frequency of unprotected sex as a result of condom use resistance. Efforts to prevent dating violence and enhance the sexual health of community college women may benefit from focusing on targeting sexual assertiveness as a protective factor.
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02 January 2020
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This study was supported by the National Institutes of Mental Health by grant number NIMH 2K24MH070769-06 (PI: Zlotnick). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Mental Health.
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Orchowski, L.M., Yusufov, M., Oesterle, D. et al. Intimate Partner Violence and Coerced Unprotected Sex Among Young Women Attending Community College. Arch Sex Behav 49, 871–882 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-019-01537-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-019-01537-5