Martie P Thompson

• PhD
• Distnguished Professor at Appalachian State University

Campus sexual assault is a problem that overwhelmingly affects cisgender women and transgender, genderqueer/questioning, and nonbinary (TGQN) students. Yet, students of any gender may be perpetrators or victims of assault. Thus, it is important that prevention programs incorporate a range of scenarios that depict different genders as both perpetrat...

Purpose We examined if civic engagement during emerging adulthood positively impacted a broad array of outcomes in middle adulthood, and if associations varied based on race, gender, age, and urban-rural status. Design Prospective design used to determine if civic engagement during emerging adulthood (M age = 21.81) predicted outcomes 15 years lat...

Objectives The US Campus SaVE Act mandates that higher education institutions receiving federal funds offer sexual assault (SA) and intimate partner violence (IPV) prevention programming to students. Yet, research on effects of campus IPV prevention programs has lagged behind research on campus SA prevention. Methods We conducted a systematic revi...

To our knowledge, this is the first epidemiologic study to examine the association between physical activity (PA) and cancer using data from the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA). The goal of the study was to understand the dose-response relation between PA and cancer, as well as the associations bet...

The US Campus Sexual Assault Violence Elimination (SaVE) Act of 2013 mandates that all higher education institutions receiving federal funds offer incoming students primary prevention and awareness programming addressing sexual violence. Yet, there is no thorough and up-to-date quantitative synthesis of the effects of campus sexual assault preventi...

Objective: This study's purpose was to determine if COVID-related stress predicted suicide risk among college students and if this risk was attenuated by higher levels of social and psychological resources. Participants: The sample included 65,142 college students who participated in the National College Health Assessment survey in Spring 2021. Met...

We examined the associations between women's behavioral coping responses during sexual assault and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and the moderating role of alexithymia in college women (N = 152). Immobilized responses (b = 0.52, p < .001), childhood SA (b = 0.18, p = .01), and alexithymia (b = 0.34, p < .001) significantly predicte...

The first epidemiologic study was conducted to prospectively examine the association between Food Environment Index (FEI) and gastric cancer (GC) risk in the US. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results provided information on GC incident cases diagnosed between 2000 and 2015 from 16 population-based cancer registries across the US. The county-l...

Objective The COVID-19 pandemic has put unprecedented stress on essential workers and their children. Limited cross-sectional research has found increases in mental health conditions from workload, reduced income, and isolation among essential workers. Less research has been conducted on children of essential workers. We examined trends in the cris...

Digital applications, or "serious games" for health address learning goals in a cognitively active, interactive manner, with the potential for widespread dissemination. This study used a mixed methods approach to develop and conduct a formative evaluation of a digital application for sexual assault prevention. Make a change is a digital application...

The present study aimed to determine whether greater levels of mobile connectivity, such as that afforded by campus safety apps, are associated with lower levels of bystander intervention into campus sexual assault incidents. We employed an experimental vignette design with a sample of college students to determine whether greater levels of mobile...

Suicide is an urgent public health problem. The purpose of this study was to determine if adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increased the risk for suicide ideations and attempts approximately 22 years later, and if sexual victimization (SV) in adulthood mediated these associations. Prospective data from a nationally representative sample of 10,9...

The goal of this review is to better understand rape and sexual violence perpetrators by synthesizing research conducted across incarcerated, college-student, and community samples. In doing so we explore prevalence and characteristics of the repeat/serial versus time-limited sexual violence perpetrators. There are parallel literatures on this gene...

This study examined relations between participation quality and quantity and youth outcomes associated with Basic Psychological Needs Theory (i.e., autonomy, relatedness, and competence) among 116 Native American youth attending a one-week culturally-tailored summer camp. Participants were 60% female, on average 13.14 (SD = 2.02) years old and had...

Introduction: Studies indicate that 20% to 25% of women and 7% to 8% of men will experience sexual assault during college, ranging from unwanted sexual contact through completed penetration. However, data on repeat victimization during college (i.e., exposure to two or more assaults) are scarce, with few studies examining correlates of repeat victi...

Objective: Preventing sexual violence among college students is a public health priority. This paper was catalyzed by a summit convened in 2018 to review the state of the science on campus sexual violence prevention. We summarize key risk and vulnerability factors and campus-based interventions, and provide directions for future research pertaining...

Objective: College athletes represent an important population to target with sexual violence (SV) prevention efforts due to their higher levels of self-reported SV relative to their nonathlete counterparts and to their potential influence on campus norms related to SV. The purpose of this research was to develop and test the preliminary efficacy of...

Research is inconclusive about the trajectory of dating violence during adolescence and whether there are differences across gender and race/ethnicity. We examined dating victimization and perpetration trajectories among a diverse sample of rural youth (N = 580, 52.7% female, 49% Black, 39% White, 11% Hispanic or other minorities) in middle and hig...

As millions of children continue to live without parental care in under-resourced societies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), it is important for policymakers and practitioners to understand the specific characteristics within different care settings and the extent to which they are associated with outcomes of orphan and separated childr...

This study examined the mediating role of beliefs about both active and passive consent in the prospective associations between sexual assault (SA) risk factors and coercive, incapacitated, and forcible attempted/completed SA among college men. Participants were 471 college men who completed self-report surveys at the end of each of their 4 years o...

The primary aim of the current study was to examine the prevalence and correlates of self-reported sexual assault (SA) perpetration, defined as nonconsensual sexualized touching or attempted or completed oral, vaginal, or anal penetration since starting college among men, women, and gender nonconforming (GNC) students. A secondary aim was to examin...

Objective: This study examined if empathy was a significant moderator of several empirically established risk factors for sexual violence perpetration among college men. Participants: Data are from 544 college men who participated in a longitudinal study from 2008 to 2011 at a large, public university. Methods: Participants completed a self-re...

Background: Research has documented multilevel risk factors associated with experiencing incapacitated sexual assault among undergraduate women. Less is known about multilevel risk factors associated with nonincapacitated sexual assault. This study examines and compares the different settings, coercion methods, and relationships in which incapacit...

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults. The current study extends the research linking adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to suicidal behaviors by testing these associations using a nationally representative sample, assessing for suicide ideation and attempts in adulthood, controlling for established ris...

Objective: Suicide is the second leading cause of death in college students. While research indicates a positive impact of gatekeeper training programs on knowledge and attitudes, few have examined change in suicide prevention behaviors. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of a brief suicide prevention training for college campuse...

Objective: Research on college sexual violence (SV) perpetration suggests there are multiple groups of male perpetrators. It is important to understand distinctions between perpetrator subgroups to determine appropriate prevention strategies, as multiple strategies may be necessary to address multiple types of perpetrators. However, previous studie...

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for older adolescents and young adults. Although empirical literature has identified important risk factors of suicidal behavior, it is less understood if changes in risk factors correspond with changes in suicide risk. To address this knowledge gap, we assessed if there were different trajectories of su...

Sexual assault on college campuses is a public health issue. However varying research methodologies (e.g., different sexual assault definitions, measures, assessment timeframes) and low response rates hamper efforts to define the scope of the problem. To illuminate the complexity of campus sexual assault, we collected survey data from a large popul...

Number of incidents of sexual assault since enrolling at CU/BC, among individuals with at least one incident. (DOCX)

This study examined putative mediators of the association between sorority membership and sexual victimization among 718 women who were enrolled in their first year of college. Data were collected through anonymous, self-report surveys that assessed sexual victimization in college, two hypothesized mediator variables (i.e., alcohol misuse and numbe...

In this study, we analyzed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index Perspective Taking subscale scores for male college students in a 2008–2011 longitudinal study at a large public university in the Southeast. Findings suggest that empathy is amenable to change among college males in the period of emerging adulthood. Through repeated measures analyses of...

Extensive literature suggests that religiosity is a protective factor in reducing a number of deviant behaviors, including sexual aggression (SA). Whereas previous research focused on the role of risky alcohol consumption in mediating the relationship between religiosity and SA, this study explores the hypothesized meditational paths from religiosi...

Background: The link between trait mindfulness and several dimensions of aggression (verbal, anger and hostility) has been documented, while the link between physical aggression and trait mindfulness remains less clear. Method: We used two datasets: one United States sample from 300 freshmen males from Clemson University, South Carolina and a Ch...

Purpose: Preventing sexual aggression (SA) can be informed by determining if time-varying risk factors differentiate men who follow different sexual aggression risk trajectories. Methods: Data are from a longitudinal study with 795 college males surveyed at the end of each of their 4 years of college in 2008-2011. Repeated measures general linea...

To the Editor We write to report errors in our article, “Trajectory Analysis of the Campus Serial Rapist Assumption,”1 published online July 13, 2015, in JAMA Pediatrics. After publication of this article, we were asked about the scoring syntax used in the derivation data compared with that used in the publicly available version of the data set. We...

Rape on college campuses has been addressed recently by a presidential proclamation, federal legislation, advocacy groups, and popular media. Many initiatives assume that most college men who perpetrate rape are serial rapists. The scientific foundation for this perspective is surprisingly limited. To determine whether a group of serial rapists exi...

Much research has examined personal characteristics that increase the risk of men engaging in sexual aggression. Heavy episodic drinking, typically operationalized for males as consuming five or more standard drinks of alcohol in a 2-hr period, is one factor that has been found in most studies to be associated with higher risk for sexual aggression...

Objective: Most frequency data on violence are non-normally distributed, which can lead to faulty conclusions when not modeled appropriately. And, we can't prevent what we can't accurately predict. We therefore review a series of methods specifically suited to analyze frequency data, with specific reference to the psychological study of sexual agg...

Although verbally coerced and incapacitated sexual assaults are common, less is known about perpetrators of these incidents in comparison to perpetrators of forcible assaults. Furthermore, few studies have investigated factors that differentiate perpetrators who employ different forms of sexual assault tactics. The current study included 526 men wh...

This study examined social support and attachment in women with and without drug misuse. Data were collected from 146 African American female suicide attempters who presented at an inner-city hospital. MANOVAs revealed that compared to their counterparts who did not misuse drugs, women who reported drug misuse had lower levels of family and friend...

African-American women are at high risk for suicide ideation and suicide attempts and use emergency psychiatric services at disproportionately high rates relative to men and other ethnic groups. However, suicide death rates are low for this population. Cultural variables in the African-American community may promote resilience and prevent fatal sui...

Much research has found that alcohol use is associated with sexual aggression (SA) perpetration among male college students. To increase understanding of this association, the present study examined whether other established risk factors for SA perpetration in this population were associated differentially with incidents that were preceded by alcoh...

The purpose of the current study was to understand the prevalence, severity, and predictors of repeated sexual coercion and assault (SCA) in a non-criminal sample. Participants were 795 college men who were surveyed at the end of each of their 4 years in college. Participants completed self-report inventories once per year for 4 years. Measures ass...

The primary aims of this article are to expand on three themes from the conference articles on risk and protective factors for dating and sexual violence and to offer suggestions that can guide future research. The first theme is the co-occurrence of sexual and dating violence with other forms of violence and other campus health issues. A second to...

Objective: This prospective study examined attitudes (ie, hostility toward women, acceptance of rape myths), peer influences (ie, peer pressure to have sex, peer approval of forced sex), and risky behaviors (ie, high-risk alcohol use, number of sexual partners) as possible mediators of the association between fraternity membership and sexual aggre...

Objectives: The authors examined prospective associations of making a virginity pledge on sexual behaviors among male college students. Participants: A sample of 795 males was followed for 4 years (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), with response rates ranging from 72% to 82% across the follow-up years. Methods: Males were surveyed at the end of each of...

Technology-based coercive behavior (TBC) represents an emerging public health problem. This study contributes to the literature by identifying prospective individual-, social-, and community-level predictors of TBC. Data were collected from 800 males who participated in a prospective study on attitudes and behaviors regarding relationships with wom...

To assess longitudinal trajectories of college males' sexually aggressive behaviors and determine time-varying individual- and peer-level risk factors that differentiate men who follow these different paths. Our analytic sample consisted of 795 men who participated in a longitudinal study on high-risk behaviors among college students. The sample wa...

School-related problems such as poor academic performance, truancy, frequent suspensions, and grade repeating have been identified as risk factors for adolescent behavior problems. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of school-related factors on violent criminality in adulthood, based on data from the National Longitudinal St...

Introduction: The Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI) is a scale designed to identify alcohol-related problems experienced by adolescents and young adults. RAPI scores tend to be skewed due in part to a substantial proportion of zero scores. In this study, we compared different statistical models for analyzing the RAPI as an outcome measure using...

This study examined the frequency and correlates of barriers to reporting sexual victimization to law enforcement. Participants were 127 female undergraduate sexual assault victims who completed self-report surveys. The most frequently reported barriers were “I handled it myself” and “I didn't think it was serious enough.” Factor analysis of the re...

This study examined the relations between childhood maltreatment, daily life hassles, and intimate partner violence among low-income, suicidal, abused African American women (N = 208). Findings indicated a significant association between childhood maltreatment and intimate partner violence, such that women who experienced childhood maltreatment wer...

This study examined associations between two types of AA participation (i.e., meeting attendance, having a sponsor) and two types of post-treatment abstinence (i.e., abstinence from alcohol, abstinence from drugs). Respondents completed measures that assessed their demographic characteristics, the severity of their substance use, and their motivati...

Protective factors for fostering reasons for living were examined among low-income, suicidal, African American women. Bivariate logistic regressions revealed that higher levels of optimism, spiritual well-being, and family social support predicted reasons for living. Multivariate logistic regressions indicated that spiritual well-being showed uniqu...

This study examined the prospective risk factors for making a nonfatal suicide attempt and whether they varied by gender. We used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. A nationally representative sample of 10,828 youth was assessed over three different time points spanning 7 years. We conducted multivariable logistic regre...

Data from a nationally representative sample of 5,238 U.S. adults were used to examine the extent to which physical assault victimization was associated with suicidal ideation or behavior (SIB). The results from multivariable logistic regression analyses indicate that physical assault victimization was positively associated with SIB after adjusting...

Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the authors examined prospective associations of attitudes, norms, and control with sexual aggression (SA) perpetration 1 year later among male college students. Data were collected from 652 males via confidential, self-report surveys at the end of their 1st and 2nd years in college. Results indicated...

Objective: This study examined (a) the efficacy of a manualized, culturally informed, empowerment-focused psychoeducational group intervention (Nia) designed in accord with the theory of triadic influence or treatment as usual (TAU) for reducing psychological symptomatology (suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms, posttraumatic stress symptoms, gen...

This investigation identifies unique risk and protective factors for internalizing and externalizing problems among 8- to 12-year-old, low-income, African American children and tests cumulative risk and protective models. A total of 152 mother—child dyads complete questionnaires. Receipt of food stamps, mother’s distress, and child maltreatment inc...

To determine if negative cognitions accounted for the associations of sexual victimization with depression and alcohol-related problems among first-year college women. Data were collected from 719 first-year college females. Structural equation modeling was used to test if negative cognitive schemas mediated the links between sexual victimization a...

This study examined the mediating roles of several family variables in the relation between IPV witnessing and children’s emotional and behavioral problems among 129 low-income, African American children ages 8 to 12. According to the mediational model tested, experiencing or witnessing IPV negatively impacted the following family variables: matern...

This study examined health care utilization patterns by maltreatment status among youths from low-income households across multiple service domains. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 153 African-American maltreated and nonmaltreated children (ages eight to 12). The youths were children of women recruited at a large inner-city public hospi...

To explore the use of protective behaviors to reduce risks associated with alcohol consumption among adolescents during the summer preceding college enrollment. Survey data were collected in fall 2006 and 2007 that assessed demographic characteristics, drinking behaviors, and use of protective behaviors in the 3 months preceding the survey. Female...

Emotional abuse in childhood has deleterious consequences across development and may be a key factor that underlies all forms of childhood maltreatment. This study examined the association between emotional abuse and relationship functioning among 139 low-income, African American 8- to 12-year-old children, with internalizing symptoms and social su...

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among older adolescents, and represents a significant public health problem. Preventing suicidal behavior depends on an understanding of the developmental transitions in suicide risk and whether the likelihood of a suicide attempt can be predicted prospectively. Data from the National Longitudinal Study o...

Living in a disordered community is negatively associated with psychological well-being. We investigated the role of social support in the link between community environment and psychological distress in a sample of 152 African American women from low socioeconomic backgrounds in a large metropolitan southeastern city. Structural equation modeling...

This study examined if alcohol expectancies (assessed with the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol-Brief Form) were prospectively related to negative consequences (assessed with the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index) and if these associations varied by gender. Data were collected from 558 first-year college students at a university in the southeastern Uni...

This study assessed the unique and interactive effects of child maltreatment and mothers' physical intimate partner violence (IPV) status on low-SES African American children's psychological functioning. Mothers were recruited from a large, inner-city hospital, and those who met eligibility criteria were asked to complete a lengthy face-to-face int...

Research indicates that alcohol use is both a risk factor for and a consequence of violent victimization. This study investigated the longitudinal associations between problem alcohol use and victimization, and whether these associations varied by gender. Data from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health (Add Health) were used to inves...

An Alcohol Skills Training Program (ASTP) was developed for first year college students linking motivational enhancement activities and training in alcohol refusal skills to specific high risk drinking contexts at Clemson University. ASTP programs with and without a context component were compared to a control condition in an intervention trial wit...

This study is focused on sexually-related expectancies for substance use among juvenile detainees. Over a 6 month period, 272 juveniles recruited from a short-term detention facility completed measures assessing sexually-related expectancies in relation to alcohol use and marijuana use as well as measures assessing their actual use of these substan...

This study examined if mother or child’s perceived social support decreased the emotional and behavioral consequences of intimate partner conflict for 148 African American children ages 8–12. Results revealed that children’s perceived social support mediated the relation between intimate partner conflict and children’s internalizing and externalizi...

We examined the prospective associations between delinquency and suicidal behaviors among adolescents using a nationally representative sample. The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health was used to assess the prospective associations between delinquency at ages 12-17 years and suicidal behaviors (ideation, attempts, treatment for attempt...

Victimization is a significant problem among college students, but it is less likely to be reported to the police than are victimizations in the general population. In this study, the authors examined (1) whether reasons for not reporting varied by type of victimization (sexual or physical) and (2) victim-, offender-, and incident-related predictor...

Little is known regarding the link between intimate partner violence (IPV), alcohol problems (AP), and depression in inner-city African American women. We sought to investigate whether abused inner-city African American women reporting AP endorsed more depressive symptoms compared to women reporting either AP or IPV or reporting neither. Participan...

This article presents two studies that used community-based, national samples of adolescents to compare demographic differences between delinquent and nondelinquent respondents. Results indicated that ethnic differences in alcohol problems were similar in the delinquent and nondelinquent groups, with whites reporting higher levels of alcohol proble...

This study evaluated the predictive validity of the Survey of Readiness for Alcoholics Anonymous Participation (SYRAAP), which is a 15-item, self-administered instrument. Bivariate and multivariate analyses examined whether responses to the SYRAAP within 1 week of entering substance-use treatment (T1) were associated with posttreatment Alcoholics A...

This article presents 5 studies related to the development and initial evaluation of the Survey of Readiness for Alcoholics Anonymous Participation (SYRAAP). The SYRAAP is a brief, multidimensional, self-administered instrument that assesses beliefs associated with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) participation. Study 1 generated 239 candidate items for p...

Coping variables that mediate the relation between intimate partner violence (IPV) and mental health outcomes among African American women were investigated. The study sample included 143 economically disadvantaged African American women ranging in age from 21 to 64 years old who were receiving services at an urban public health system. Sixty-five...

This study examined the role of maternal parenting stress in the relation between intimate partner violence (IPV) and children's emotional and behavioral problems among 139 African American children between the ages of 8 and 12 years. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate a mediational model examining maternal reports of IPV and pare...

This study examined direct and conditional associations between juvenile delinquency and weight-related variables in a national sample of high school students. Data from the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) of 12,713 high school students aged 14 to 17 were examined. Logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the data. Bivariate and mul...

Two studies investigated links among 12-step group participation, gender, attributions of blame for personal sadness, and psychological well-being. Study I used a correlational design to examine these links cross-sectionally among substance abusers who identified alcohol as their primary drug problem. Study 2 used an experimental design to examine...

Objective. Little is known regarding the link between intimate partner violence (IPV), alcohol problems (AP), and depression in inner-city African American women. We sought to investigate whether abused inner-city African American women reporting AP endorsed more depressive symptoms compared to women reporting either AP or IPV or reporting neither....

Suicide was the second leading cause of death for 14-17 years olds in 2002. Prior studies indicate that suicidal behaviors are especially common among juvenile delinquents, yet this association has not been examined in a national sample. The 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System was used to examine associations between suicidal behaviors and...

Alcohol use increases the risk of intimate partner violence (IPV), yet little research has examined its role in victimization outcomes (e.g., physical injury, police reporting). This study examined the roles of perpetrator and victim incident-specific alcohol use in IPV outcomes. The sample included 501 men and 1,756 women who had experienced an IP...

The study was a cross-sectional examination of African American women positive for intimate partner violence (IPV) who presented to the medical or psychiatric emergency department (ED) for treatment. African American women with a recent history of IPV who presented following an attempted suicide (n = 100) were compared to demographically comparable...

Protective factors (hope, spirituality, self-efficacy, coping, social support-family, social support-friends, and effectiveness of obtaining resources) against suicide attempts were examined in economically, educationally, and socially disadvantaged African American women (100 suicide attempters, 100 nonattempters) who had experienced recent intima...

This study examines whether experiences with four different types of intimate partner violence (IPV) increase risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. We examined impacts of physical, sexual, psychological, and stalking victimization by a current partner on PTSD symptoms, the extent to which each type of IPV accounted for significant...

Study objectives: We compare 2 groups of abused black female emergency department (ED) patients (suicide attempters and nonattempters) with regard to specific depressive symptoms. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional examination of intimate partner violence (IPV)–positive black women who presented to the medical or psychiatric ED for treatment....

This study investigated the effects of physical abuse in childhood on health problems in adulthood and assessed gender differences in these associations. We used data from 8000 men and 8000 women who were interviewed in the National Violence Against Women Survey. We used multivariate logistic regression to test for main and interactive effects and...

Alcohol use is a risk factor for violent victimization in general, and intimate partner violence in particular. However, there has been limited empirical attention on whether alcohol use is more often associated with IPV or non-IPV offenses. Further, few studies on the association between alcohol use and victimization have assessed for incident-spe...

Alcohol use is a risk factor for violent victimization in general, and intimate partner violence in particular. However, there has been limited empirical attention on whether alcohol use is more often associated with IPV or non-IPV offenses. Further, few studies on the association between alcohol use and victimization have assessed for incident-spe...

To learn more about the roots of internalizing and externalizing problems in low-income, African-American children, aged 8-12 years, particularly for family and community factors, we aimed to determine which variables (mother's psychological functioning, mother's intimate partner violence status [IPV], family cohesion and adaptability, neighborhood...

Many studies have examined predictors of recidivism among adolescent detainees. A recent meta-analysis of these predictors indicated that child maltreatment is associated with recidivism. This study expanded on prior work on this topic by using a well-validated self-report instrument to assess abuse and neglect experiences. Results revealed that em...

Screening for intimate partner violence has been advocated as an emergency department (ED) procedure. This study aimed to ascertain whether a 5-item intimate partner violence screening questionnaire could be used effectively in the ED with low-income black women to accurately predict partner abuse status. Data were collected from 200 black women wh...