Article

Prevalence and Risk of Drugging Victimization Among Sexual Minority and Heterosexual College Students

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Abstract

Drugging (i.e., administering someone a drug or alcohol without their knowledge or consent) is a problem with substantial consequences for college students. Although sexual minorities face greater rates of drugging risk factors (e.g., greater rates of binge drinking have been identified among sexual minorities), no prior study has examined the prevalence or risk of drugging in this population. We sought to (1) describe rates at which heterosexual and sexual minority college students (separated by gender) have been drugged and to assess (2) sexual minority status and (3) illicit drug use as risk factors for drugging victimization for male and female college students. Results revealed that, controlling for established drugging victimization risk factors, male sexual minority college students were 72.9% more likely to report drugging victimization than heterosexual males. No significant differences in rates of drugging victimization were found between sexual minority and heterosexual women. However, both genders had greater drugging victimization among students who engaged in illicit drug use, binge drinking, and Greek life membership. These findings suggest that initiatives to promote the well-being of college students (e.g., sexual assault prevention) should include drugging as a focus, with outreach particularly to women and sexual minority men.

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... As other articles in this special issue emphasize (Lasky, Fisher, & Swan, 2018;Schramm et al., 2018;Warner et al., 2018), the act of drugging is often nonconsensual and unwanted. In this regard, drugging meets all four criteria for an offense, regardless of whether it is accompanied by other crimes, such as sexual assault or robbery. ...
... This more explicit connection to sources of meaning and identity as a protective factor is consistent with recent work on resilience (e.g., Hamby, Grych, & Banyard, 2017). Schramm et al. (2018) used large data sets to aggregate sufficient cases to explore another group that is underrepresented in victimization research, those who identify as a sexual minority. Their results suggest that gender may intersect with sexual identity for drugging risk, as they found heightened risk of males who identify as a sexual minority but not of females. ...
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This special issue on drugging presents five articles that make important contributions to this still emerging literature. Although historical incidents of drugging, which is the nonconsensual administration of psychoactive substances, have been documented for decades, scientific scholarship on this phenomenon is relatively new. These articles provide in-depth consideration of conceptual issues around this behavior, which can be difficult to detect and is not always perceived as an offense by young adults. The authors also contribute important new quantitative and qualitative data on a range of risk factors include differential vulnerability across racial groups and sexual identities. Data on victimization responses and revictimization are presented. Regarding perpetrators, an analysis of the media treatment of high-status perpetrators, in this case medical professionals, also illuminates ongoing challenges in the social perceptions of drugging and the criminal status of the offense.
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This study examined the relationship between sexual orientation and substance use among a nationally representative sample of U.S. college and university students. Data from the 1999 College Alcohol Survey were analyzed to compare marijuana and other illicit drug use among heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual students. Findings indicate no significant differences in either marijuana or other illicit drug use for homosexual students. However, bisexuals, especially females, were more likely to have used both marijuana and other illicit drugs. These findings underscore the importance of examining bisexuals as a separate group rather than combining them together with homosexuals. The findings also indicate the presence of unique risk and protective factors based on sexual orientation.
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The present investigation employed meta-analytic procedures to quantitatively evaluate the empirical evidence on the relationship between drug abuse and aggression between intimate partners. Data from 96 studies yielding 547 effect sizes indicated that increases in drug use and drug-related problems were significantly associated with increases in aggression between intimate partners (d= .27). Cocaine emerged as the illicit substance with the strongest relationship to psychological, physical, and sexual aggression (ds= .39 to .62). Marijuana was also identified as having a significant association with partner aggression. Results showed comparable effect sizes for men and women, regardless of the sex of the drug user and/or perpetrator of partner aggression, with female reports of aggression having yielded larger effect sizes than male reports. Moderator analyses revealed that relative to other groups, married or cohabiting couples and Black participants evidenced significantly stronger effect sizes. The findings are discussed in relation to possible mechanisms linking drugs to partner aggression, and implications for future research are discussed in terms of focusing on conducting studies that assess the interaction of context and temporal sequencing of drugs and partner aggression.
Best practices for asking questions about sexual orientation on surveys
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Badgett, L., & Goldberg, N. (2009). Best practices for asking questions about sexual orientation on surveys. Los Angeles, CA: The Williams Institute.
Alcohol and drug use among residents of Greek houses. Discoveries: A bulletin of the core institute
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Presley, C. A., Meilman, P. W., & Lyerla, R. (1993). Alcohol and drug use among residents of Greek houses. Discoveries: A bulletin of the core institute. Carbondale, IL: Core Institute, Student Health Programs, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
The gendered worlds of drugging ("drink spiking"). Paper presented at the Meeting of the American Society of Criminology
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Swan, S. C., Lasky, N. V., & Fisher, B. S. (2016). The gendered worlds of drugging ("drink spiking"). Paper presented at the Meeting of the American Society of Criminology, New Orleans, LA.