Risk factors associated with date rape and sexual assault of adolescent girls

• Published in: Journal of adolescence (London, England.) Vol. 18; no. 3; pp. 289 - 306
• Main Authors: Vicary, Judith R., Klingaman, Linda R., Harkness, William L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.06.1995; Elsevier Science; Academic Press for the Association for the Psychiatric Study of Adolescents; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent girls; Adolescents; Appalachia; Biological and medical sciences; Child development; Date rape; Dating (Social); Developmental psychology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Girls; Longitudinal studies; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Rape; Risk Assessment; Risk factors; Rural Areas; Sexual Abuse; Sexual Assault; Sexual behavior; Teenagers; Human; Rape; Age of onset; Adolescent; Sexual behavior; Risk factor; Family environment; Menarche; Female; Sexual abuse
• ISSN: 0140-1971; 1095-9254
• DOI: 10.1006/jado.1995.1020

The prevalence of and risk factors associated with unwanted sexual activity by dates/boyfriends were studied prospectively over a four-year period in a sample of young, rural adolescent girls. Twenty-three per cent reported such experiences from dates/boyfriends by the fourth year of the study, including forced touching, intercourse, oral sex, and/or other sexual behaviors; fifteen per cent had experienced date rape. Familial variables were not found to be significant predictors of unwanted sexual activity by dates/boyfriends. However, earlier age of menarche and sexual activity were significant predictors, as were more sexually active same sex friends, poorer peer relationships, and poorer emotional status.