Christine Gidycz

• Ohio University

The prevalence of experiencing sexual assault is alarmingly high among Transgender and Gender Diverse people (TGD; people whose gender identities and/or expressions are not traditionally associated with their sex assigned at birth) and is associated with various mental health sequalae. Perceived social support has been shown to abate the negative o...

Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) women (i.e., individuals who were assigned male at birth and identify as women or trans women) experience trauma at disproportionate rates compared to cisgender populations. While trauma is associated with increased alcohol use among TGD women, research regarding factors that are protective of this association i...

Objectives There is limited research examining the relationship between alcohol use and eating pathology in men or factors that may moderate this association. The current study investigated the relationship between alcohol use and eating pathology, and examined emotion dysregulation as a moderator of this association, among heavy‐drinking college m...

Objective: Adults with ADHD are often victims of psychological and physical violence by romantic partners, but less is known regarding whether ADHD is associated with sexual assault victimization. Method: Adults with (n = 97) and without childhood histories of ADHD (n = 121) rated their experiences with sexual assault victimization and additional r...

Objective: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is prevalent in college dating relationships, with bidirectional violence most common. Some studies have suggested that investment model constructs (low relationship investment, satisfaction, or commitment, and high quality of alternatives to the relationship) might serve as risk factors for IPV perpetrati...

A growing literature has documented that negative social reactions to disclosures of sexual and intimate partner violence (IPV), such as victim blaming or disbelief, can negatively affect survivors’ recovery. However, despite growing recognition of the frequency of unwanted pursuit behaviors (UPBs; for example, stalking, excessive or threatening co...

Objective The current study examined facets of gender minority stress (nonaffirmation, internalized transphobia) and protective factors (community connectedness, transgender identity pride) as potential moderators of the relationship between sexual victimization and sleep disturbances among transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) adults. Metho...

Sexual assault prevention on college campuses often includes programming directed at men, women, and all students as potential bystanders. Problematically, specific types of sexual assault prevention are often implemented on campuses in isolation, and sexual assault risk reduction and resistance education programs for women are rarely integrated wi...

This study examines college men’s (N = 635) and women’s (N = 650) reports of women’s resistance against unwanted sexual and social advances. Men completed surveys to assess (a) initiation of unwanted sexual contact with a female partner, (b) initiation of unwanted sexual intercourse with a female partner, (c) sexual situations where a female partne...

Data suggests that sexual assault and harassment continue to be significant concerns within the U.S. military. Given such findings, the Department of Defense and the component military services have recently developed several initiatives aimed at preventing sexual violence within their ranks. A number of these programming efforts are modeled after...

Objective: Despite heightened attention to intimate partner violence (IPV) toward undergraduate women, unwanted pursuit behaviors (UPBs) have received much less attention. The purpose of the present study was to refine and validate existing in-person and cyber UPB measures, examine their association with other forms of IPV, and assess the unique im...

Objective: College women are at risk for exposure to sexual victimization, which is a risk factor for posttraumatic stress (PTS) and sexual dysfunction. Contemporary models of female sexual functioning identify the role of distal (e.g., sexual abuse) and proximal (e.g., psychological) variables in contributing to female sexual response. This study...

Approximately 60% of legally defined rape victims do not label their experiences as “rape,” most of whom label the experience as “a serious miscommunication.” However, little research has examined why women choose this label. Labeling rape as a miscommunication could be problematic if chosen due to stereotypical conceptions that one’s experience is...

Some research shows that sexual assault victimization is associated with increased engagement in risky sexual behavior (e.g., intercourse without use of a condom or contraceptives), whereas other research indicates sexual assault victimization is related to sexual aversion. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether posttraumatic stres...

Background: Prevalence estimates of adults identifying as transgender are scarce, particularly in the United States. Method: The current study endeavored to estimate the prevalence of individuals identifying as transgender in a large online sample of adult U.S. residents (n = 6,727) and compare the prevalence of common mental health disorders (depr...

Objective. Whereas several theories (i.e., attachment theory, coercive control theory, relational goal pursuit theory) have been proposed to predict perpetration of unwanted pursuit behavior (UPBs; i.e., unwanted or persistent pursuit) following romantic relationships, there have been few attempts at theory integration, and little focus on cyber UP...

Fifty-six college women completed surveys before and after terminating an abusive, heterosexual dating relationship. Whereas 64% of women had contact with their abusive partner post break-up, only 14% reported a moderate to high likelihood that they would return. Intentions to return were prospectively predicted by fewer perceived quality of altern...

The present study examined the extent of cyber and in-person unwanted pursuit behaviors (UPBs) reported by undergraduate men and women who pursued former partners and the pursuer’s perceptions of the impact of their pursuit on their targets. Among a sample of 1167 undergraduates (66.8 % women; 95.4 % heterosexual) approximately 80 % of men and wome...

Objective: Research has indicated that adolescent or adulthood sexual assault (ASA) is associated with sexual functioning difficulties; less research has examined mechanisms behind this relationship. The current study tested domains of trauma-related symptomatology as mediators of the relationship between ASA and domains of sexual functioning, whil...

The goal of this study was to examine young adult women's motives for engaging in psychological, physical, and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV). Participants were 484 college women in relationships who had engaged in at least 1 form of psychological, physical, or sexual IPV perpetration. Women who reported engaging in psychological and physic...

Using a mixed methodology, the present study compared men’s and women’s perceived benefits and emotional reactions with participating in research that inquired about child maltreatment and intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and perpetration. Participants consisted of 703 college students (357 women, 346 men), ages 18 to 25 who reported o...

This study prospectively examined the impact of men's own attitudes and behaviors and perceptions of peer attitudes and behaviors on intentions and engagement in prosocial bystander behavior. Undergraduate men completed surveys at baseline and 4- and 7-month follow-ups. Men's perceptions of peer attitudes and behaviors and their own attitudes and b...

The purpose of this study was to better understand young adults’ perceptions of what behaviors constitute intimate partner violence (IPV) and the correlates of these perceptions using a comprehensive measure of IPV perceptions and behaviors. Participants were undergraduates (aged 18-25), including 357 women and 346 men (N = 703) from the midwestern...

Bystander intervention is receiving increased attention as a potential sexual violence prevention strategy, especially to address campus sexual assault. Rather than focusing on potential perpetrators or victims, the bystander approach engages all members of a community to take action. A growing body of evaluative work demonstrates that bystander in...

Objective: Social norms approaches to sexual assault prevention have proliferated despite a dearth of empirical evidence for the tenets of social norms theory as it relates to sexual assault. Whereas previous research has found that men's perceptions of peer aggression influence their perpetration of sexual assault, previous research has not assess...

Objective: College women are at high risk for sexual assault, especially women with a history of sexual victimization. The present study uses a longitudinal design to explore the role of sexual assertiveness, psychological barriers to resistance, and resistance self-efficacy as putative mediators between prior sexual victimization and sexual revict...

Preliminary evidence underscores links between attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and victimization. However, little is known about whether ADHD symptoms are uniquely associated with IPV perpetration and victimization beyond well-established risk factors of IPV commonly associat...

A prospective design was utilized to explore the impact of social reactions to sexual assault disclosure among college women who experienced sexual victimization over a 4-month academic quarter. Women completed baseline, 4- and 7-month assessments of symptomatology, beliefs about why sexual assault occurs, victimization, and social reactions to sex...

Previous research has examined the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization experiences and investment model variables, particularly with relation to leaving intentions. However, research only has begun to explore the impact that various dyadic patterns of IPV (i.e., unidirectional victimization, unidirectional perpetration...

The present study describes the 4- and 7-month postintervention outcomes of a sexual assault risk reduction program for women, which was part of an evaluation that included a prevention program for men. Relative to the control group, participants evidenced more relational sexual assertiveness and self-protective behavior, and were more likely to in...

Objective: The aim of the current study is to examine the potential differential relationships between sexual victimization occurring in different developmental stages (i.e., in childhood, adolescence, or both stages) and cognitive-affective sexual appraisals (i.e., sexual self-schemas, sexual self-esteem, and erotophobia-erotophilia). Method: The...

Sexual Assault Report. Kingston, NJ: Civic Research Institute

The purpose of the current study was to build on the existing literature to better understand young women’s leaving processes in abusive dating relationships using a prospective design. Two social psychological models—the investment model and theory of planned behavior—were tested. According to the investment model, relationship continuation is pre...

The purpose of the current study was to utilize a prospective methodology to better understand the extent to which women report stalking behaviors perpetrated by their abusive ex-partners and how these stalking experiences affect women's psychological adjustment. Participants included 56 college women who completed measures of partner abuse and psy...

This study examined the moderating role of resiliency characteristics in the relationship between multiplicity of child maltreatment and biopsychosocial outcomes (i.e., psychological, physical, and interpersonal distress) in young adulthood. Participants included 765 college women who completed surveys. Structural equation modeling showed that resi...

Little research has examined the relationship between women’s labeling of their sexual assault experiences and sexual functioning, as well as identification of variables that may mediate the labeling-trauma outcome relationship. The purpose of this study was to fill this gap in the literature, by examining the potential mediating role of coping str...

This researchers assessed informal (e.g., friends, family) social reactions to college women’s (N = 139) disclosure of intimate partner violence (IPV) within their current romantic relationships and associated psychological (i.e., posttraumatic stress symptoms [PTSS] and global psychological distress symptoms) and relational (i.e., intentions to le...

Objective: Little research examines factors contributing to specific motives for physical dating violence (DV) perpetration. This study explores this gap in the literature with a specific focus on gender, coping, DV perpetration and victimization, and attitudes toward violence. Method: The sample included 221 college students who reported a history...

The purpose of this study was to utilize a mixed methodological approach to better understand the co-occurrence of perpetrator tactics and women’s resistance strategies during a sexual assault and women’s reflections on these experiences. College women were recruited from introductory psychology courses and completed both forced-choice response and...

There remains resistance to feminist self-defense and resistance training programming for women, despite (a) documented effectiveness of rape resistance strategies in avoiding rape, (b) consistently high rates of sexual victimization on college campuses, and (c) limited evidence of lasting change in sexual assault perpetration reduction within exis...

Research has demonstrated that interpersonal weight-related pressures and criticisms are related to body dissatisfaction among college women. Further, research has suggested that romantic partners, in comparison to family and peers, play an increasingly important role in college women’s body dissatisfaction. However, research has been inconsistent...

Despite high rates of sexual assault among college women, most victims do not label the experience as sexual assault or rape. Prior research examining labeling of sexual victimization has focused on women's characterization of rape experiences as either not victimization or victimization. This study extends prior research by exploring factors assoc...

Objective: To explore reactions to participation in research concerning dating violence (DV) within women's current relationships and how study participation influenced women's thoughts toward their current partners and relationships. Methods: Mixed-methodological study with 940 college women, including closed-ended survey questions and an open-end...

The predictors of intimate partner violence (IPV) have received extensive attention in the literature, including a well-established link between exposure to violence in the family-of-origin and subsequent perpetration of IPV in adolescence and adulthood. However, a model that provides for potential mediating factors in this relationship would prove...

Objective: This study assessed abused and nonabused women's perceptions of Investment Model (IM) variables (ie, relationship investment, satisfaction, commitment, quality of alternatives) utilizing a mixed-methods design. Participants: Participants included 102 college women, approximately half of whom were in abusive dating relationships. Meth...

How a support provider responds to disclosure of sexual victimization has important implications for the process of recovery. The present study examines the associations between various positive and negative social reactions to sexual assault disclosure and psychological distress, coping behavior, social support, and self-esteem in a sample of coll...

This study investigated both young men's and young women's perpetration of physical, sexual, and psychological forms of dating violence, examining predictors of violence including maternally or paternally perpetrated forms of various types of child maltreatment, as well as attitudes toward dating violence and dating violence victimization. Results...

College students' responses to a hypothetical sexual assault scenario involving alcohol use by the victim and/or perpetrator were examined (N = 295). Participants reported on victim/perpetrator responsibility, the extent to which the scenario would be considered rape, and their likelihood of providing positive or negative responses to the victim. C...

The researchers utilized quantitative and qualitative methods to examine college women’s disclosure of dating violence. Quantitative analyses showed that disclosure of dating violence was related to stress associated with abuse, partner blame, and thoughts about ending the relationship. Qualitative content analyses demonstrated that women’s minimiz...

This study assessed women’s immediate and long-term reactions to completing self-report measures of interpersonal violence. College women completed surveys at the beginning and end of a 2-month academic quarter for course credit. Results showed that 7.7% of participants experienced immediate negative emotional reactions to research participation. G...

This study assessed college men’s reactions immediately following and 2 months after completing self-report measures of interpersonal violence. Results showed that 4.3% of men experienced immediate negative emotional reactions. Greater immediate negative reactions were related to personal benefits to research participation, anticipation of future d...

This article examines the relationship between dispositional mindfulness, health behaviors (eg, sleep, eating, and exercise), and physical health. Participants included 441 college women. Women completed self-report surveys at the beginning and end of a 10-week academic quarter. The study was conducted over 5 academic quarters from fall 2008 to fal...

How does the quality of a supervisory relationship affect supervisors' evaluations of supervisees? Supervisees' learning and evaluation take place in the context of the supervisory relationship, the quality of which can either foster learning and evaluation or hinder these processes. This article outlines how the quality of the supervisory relation...

A prospective methodology was used to explore predictors of sexual assault disclosure among college women, identify who women tell about sexual victimization, and examine the responses of informal support providers (N = 374). Women most often confided in a female peer. Increased coping via seeking emotional support, strong attachments, and high ten...

This study assessed the process of leaving an abusive dating relationship utilizing a qualitative design. Participants included 123 college women in abusive dating relationships who participated at the beginning and end of a 10-week academic quarter. Qualitative content analyses were used to analyze the transcribed responses to an open-ended questi...

Previous research suggests that posttraumatic stress symptomatology is a partial mediator of the relationship between sexual assault history in adolescence/adulthood and physical health symptomatology (e.g., Eadie, Runtz, & Spencer-Rodgers, 2008). The current study assessed a broader, more inclusive potential mediator, trauma-related symptoms in th...

The researchers assessed the predictors of victim-perpetrator relationship stability following a sexual assault. Participants included 254 women sexually assaulted by a friend, casual dating partner, or steady dating partner. Results suggested that most victim-perpetrator relationships (75%) continued following the sexual assault. Greater trauma sy...

The current study examined college women’s perceptions of the positive and negative socioemotional consequences associated with engaging in self-protective behaviors to reduce risk for sexual victimization. At baseline, women completed assessments of the extent to which they would experience positive or negative socioemotional consequences as a res...

Rape myths, which are present at both the individual and institutional/societal levels, are one way in which sexual violence has been sustained and justified throughout history. In light of an increasing accumulation of rape myth research across a variety of disciplines, this paper proposes to use a feminist lens to provide an overview of the histo...

Many theoretical models examining health risk behaviors, such as sexual risk taking, assume intentions directly predict behavior, and intentions are sometimes measured as a proxy for behavior. Given that there is often a discrepancy between intentions and behaviors (e.g., Sheeran, 200243. Sheeran , P. ( 2002 ). Intention–behavior relations: A conc...

Men and women living in randomly selected 1st-year dormitories participated in tailored single-sex sexual assault prevention or risk-reduction programs, respectively. An evaluation of the men's project is presented (N = 635). The program incorporated social norms and bystander intervention education and had an impact on self-reported sexual aggress...

The purpose of the current study was to explore college women's stay/ leave decisions in abusive relationships using a prospective methodology. Participants (N = 323) completed surveys at the beginning and end of a 10-week academic quarter for course credit. A path analysis suggested that the model-which included investment model variables (i.e., r...

This study implemented a prospective design to explore the relationship between college men's perceived likelihood to perpetrate sexual aggression and their perpetration of sexual aggression over a three-month interim (N = 414). Compared to men's report of their likelihood to use physical force to obtain sex play or sexual intercourse, college men...

The purpose of the study was to assess sexual assault survivors' nondisclosure motivations, including stigma threat, and their impact on revictimization risk. The authors describe data from a prospective study of 144 female, undergraduate sexual assault survivors, most of whom had been assaulted by acquaintances and only one of whom had officially...

We provide an overview of emerging directions in the measurement of rape, the most extreme form of sexual victimization. The context for our overview is how operational definitions of rape have evolved, where consensus has emerged, and where it eludes the field. We discuss two approaches to the detection of rape victimization in survey methods, nam...

The purpose of the study was to determine college women's (N = 405) reactions to body image and eating disorder research as well as predictors of negative reactions. Results suggested that the majority of women (94%) did not experience negative reactions and reported benefits to participating. Regression analyses revealed that disordered eating and...

Despite years of feminist work and change towards raising awareness of the prevalence of sexual victimization, girls and women continue to disproportionately struggle for safety and justice. Sexual assault occurs at particularly high rates on college campuses. The purpose of this chapter is unique in that in addition to providing a synthesis of lit...

The current study prospectively examined the longitudinal relationships between binge drinking behavior and rape experiences among a multisite sample of college women with a history of prior attempted or completed rape (N = 228). Rates of binge drinking among this high-risk sample were high. Prospective analyses indicated that binge drinking signif...

Although script theory has been applied to sexual assault (e.g., H. Frith & C. Kitzinger, 2001; A. S. Kahn, V. A. Andreoli Mathie, & C. Torgler, 1994), women's scripts of rape have not been examined in relation to predicting sexual victimization experiences. The purpose of the current study was to examine how elements of women's sexual assault scri...

The current study followed women who participated in a sexual assault risk reduction program and a wait-list control group for 4 months. Those women in both groups who reported being revictimized (N = 147) were assessed to determine the effect of program participation on psychological distress. Intervention group participants reported a significant...

Research suggests that many sexual assault survivors do not disclose their experience, which may increase associated distress. Pennebaker's emotional disclosure paradigm has been shown to ameliorate psychological and physical distress in individuals exposed to stressful events. The current study assessed the effectiveness of this paradigm with sexu...

The present study examined college women's likelihood to report sexual victimization to the police, a friend, the counseling center, their resident advisor, or on a survey (N = 300). In comparison to other forms of reporting, women perceived themselves to be most likely to report victimization on a survey. Women also indicated a higher likelihood t...

Despite growing evidence suggesting that women engage in verbal and physical dating aggression, there is a dearth of research examining the predictors of women's engagement in these behaviors. Utilizing a college sample, the purpose of the current study was to explore women's perpetration of dating aggression within the context of victimization exp...

This study assessed college women's reactions to participating in sexual assault research. Women with sexual victimization histories reported more negative emotional reactions than nonvictimized women, but also greater benefits. Benefits to research participation outweighed costs for both women with and without sexual victimization histories. Women...

Although script theory has been applied to sexual assault (e.g., H. Frith & C. Kitzinger, 2001; A. S. Kahn, V. A. Andreoli Mathie, & C. Torgler, 1994), women's scripts of rape have not been examined in relation to predicting sexual victimization experiences. The purpose of the current study was to examine how elements of women's sexual assault scri...

The present study utilizes the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey to examine the relationship between health-risk behaviors and sexual victimization among a sample of college women. A prospective design is utilized to examine the relationship between health-risk behaviors as measured at baseline and sexual victimization during a 3-month f...

The current study extends the development and evaluation of an existing and previously evaluated sexual assault risk reduction program with a self-defense component for college women (N= 300). The program protocol was revised to address psychological barriers to responding assertively to risky dating situations, and a placebo-control group was util...

The present study prospectively explored the predictors of resistance strategies to a sexual assault situation. Participants were assessed at the beginning of an academic quarter on a number of variables, including past history of sexual victimization, perceived risk of sexual victimization, and intentions to use specific types of resistance strate...

The purpose of the current study was to examine how women's intentions, as well as psychological and situational factors, predicted the actual use of resistance tactics in response to a sexual assault situation over a 2-month follow-up period. Twenty-eight percent of the 378 undergraduate women who participated at the baseline assessment and return...

This study extended the findings of Cleveland, Koss, and Lyon's (1999) research on rape tactics to a sample of college men by examining the use and acceptance of sexually aggressive tactics. Participants included 297 male undergraduate students who filled out instruments assessing for a history of sexual aggression and other personality characteris...

The present study examined the effects of observational influence on the recognition of sexual aggression in men using videotaped vignettes of coercive and noncoercive dating scenarios. Participants' self-identification with sexually aggressive behavior, ability to identify inappropriate dating behaviors, and ability to recognize nonconsent was ass...

The authors' purpose in this study was to assess longitudinally the relationships among alcohol use, risk perception, and sexual victimization. Three hundred and seventy-two women from 2 midsized universities made up the sample. Participants filled out questionnaires regarding history of sexual victimization, alcohol use, and perceived personal ris...

The current study utilized a prospective design to explore the relationship between alcohol use, athletic participation, fraternity membership, early sexual experiences, and the perpetration of verbal, physical, and sexual aggression among college men over a 3-month interim (N=425). A series of hierarchical logistic regressions explored the relatio...

This article reviews empirical and theoretical studies that examined the relationship between risk perception and sexual victimization in women. Studies examining women's general perceptions of risk for sexual assault as well as their ability to identify and respond to threat in specific situations are reviewed. Theoretical discussions of the optim...

Research has indicated that sexual assault on college campuses is pervasive (Koss, Gidycz, & Wisniewski, 1987) and that a history of sexual victimization serves as a risk factor for future victimization (Gidycz, Coble, Latham, & Layman, 1993). The purpose of the present investigation was to extend the findings of Gidycz et al. (1993) in examining t...

This study empirically evaluates the Riggs and O’Leary (1989) model of dating violence. A sample of 200 college students completes assessments concerning the occurrence of violence in their dating relationships. The incidence of self-reported partner violence is 25% for women and 10% for men. Multivariate logistic regression analyses are performed...

The majority of studies evaluating the relationship between childhood sexual assault and subsequent sexual assault perpetration by men have been conducted retrospectively and with incarcerated populations. The present study seeks to improve on previous research by prospectively investigating the relationship between childhood sexual assault and sub...

The present study evaluated the efficacy of a sexual assault risk-reduction program that included a physical self-defense component for college women (N= 500). Program group women significantly increased their protective behaviors over the 6-month follow-up period compared to the waiting-list control group. However, there were no significant differ...

We investigated the possible reciprocal relationship between victimization experiences and psychological functioning by assessing abuse experiences in childhood, adolescence, and during a 2-month follow-up period. At the beginning of the study (Time 1), abuse histories, trauma and depressive symptoms, and interpersonal functioning were assessed in...

This study prospectively evaluated perpetrator risk factors for sexual assault perpetration, including peer influences, beliefs and attitudes about sexuality, alcohol use, and token resistance. Perpetration of sexual assault was evaluated at three time periods: pretest, 3-month follow-up, and 7-month follow-up. Retrospective and prospective analyse...

This article summarizes the results of the Ohio University Sexual Assault Risk Reduction Project, which is a program designed to reduce college women's risk for sexual assault. The program was evaluated at 2 separate universities with 762 women. Participants were randomly assigned either to the program or to the no-treatment comparison group, and t...

The study investigated whether involving parents in their child's cognitive-behavioral intervention would effectively reduce parent distress during their child's medical procedure. Parents participating with their 3- to 7-year-old children prior to a voiding cystourethrogram were randomly assigned to an intervention (N = 20) or a standard care (N =...

This article summarizes the results of the Ohio University Sexual Assault Risk Reduction Project, which is a program designed to reduce college women's risk for sexual assault. The program was evaluated at 2 separate universities with 762 women. Participants were randomly assigned either to the program or to the no-treatment comparison group, and t...

The present study was designed to assess the effectiveness of a sexual assault prevention program on college students' rape-related attitudes and experiences with sexual aggression and victimization. Attitudes and sexual aggression and victimization experiences were assessed both prior to the program and 9 weeks following the program. Results sugge...

Investigations of physical assault have found that a substantial number of women have been victimized within the context of a dating relationship. The present study examined a wide range of interpersonal, attitudinal, personality, past history, and demographic variables for 308 college women in order to understand what factors differentiate women i...

To reduce young children's distress and increase coping behavior among children undergoing a voiding cystourethrogram (VCU). Three- to seven-year-old children were stratified based on prior VCU experience and randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 20) or a standard care (n = 20) condition. The intervention included provision of information, copi...

Conducted a meta-analytic evaluation of the effectiveness of school-based child abuse prevention programs. Literature searches identified 27 studies meeting inclusion criteria for use in this meta-analysis. The average effect size for all programs studied was 1.07, indicating that children who participated in prevention programs performed 1.07 SD h...