College Student Study: Methodology

Most studies of violence against women examine a sample at one point in time.  Such studies are called cross-sectional. Although cross-sectional studies have identified several possible risk factors, they cannot assess how well certain risk factors can predict future events. For that, one needs a longitudinal study -one that follows a sample over time. This study is a longitudinal one designed to answer four questions:

*Do women who experience one form of violence experience others as well?
*Does early victimization put women at risk for future victimization?
*Are men who commit one form of violence against their partners likely to commit others?
*Are early perpetration or victimization experiences significant risk factors for future
perpetration?

The data came from a 5-year study of the risk of sexual and physical assault among university students, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. Both men and women were assessed annually from age 18 through age 22.Two incoming classes of women were surveyed regarding a variety of sexual experiences. Approximately 83 percent of the 1990 class (825 students) and 84 percent of the 1991 class (744 students) provided usable surveys. The sample of women was 71 percent white and 25 percent black; 4 percent came from other ethnic groups.

Three incoming classes of men (1990,1991,and 1992) were also surveyed about a range of social experiences; 835 students initially participated. The sample of men was 68 percent white and 26 percent black; 6 percent belonged to other ethnic groups. Almost two-thirds of the men (65 percent) completed the first survey; 22 percent completed all phases of the study.

To address the low completion rate, researchers compared participants who completed the study with those who dropped out. They found no statistically significant differences between the groups. Higher attrition rates were related to self-reports from adolescents of alcohol use and delinquent behaviors, but not to rates of sexual perpetration. For both men and women, factors related to withdrawal from the study were similar to reasons students drop out of college.

Childhood Sexual Abuse Study: Methodologies

This study was designed to explore whether child abuse survivors have an increased risk of later victimization and, if so, whether certain factors in their lives, such as abusing alcohol and having numerous sexual partners between the ages of 13 and 17, heighten the risk of victimization.

The research also explored whether women who are themselves physically aggressive are at increased risk of violent victimization and whether child abuse victim's family situation (an unstable family structure, harsh punishment, and witnessing violence) may significantly affect the risk of future victimization.

This study is a secondary analysis of data from interviews with women who were part of a prospeective longitudinal study, begun in 1973 and sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health, of a group of children who had been the victims of officially reported child sexual abuse. In 1990 and 1991, followup interviews funded by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect were conducted to investigate the adult consequences of child sexual abuse and the validity of children's disclosures of sexual abuse incidents. To investigate issues raised during those followup interviews, a third round of interviews was conducted in 1996 and 1997 with both the victims and a comparison group of women who had no documented history of abuse but who had been seen in the pediatric emergency room at the same time for non abuse-related injuries or illnesses.

The study uses data from 174 women from the victim and comparison groups who were interviewed in 1996 -97; 80 of the women from the victim group had also been interviewed in 1990 -91. The analyses examined the effect of potential risk factors while controlling for familial background factors. Approximately 30 percent of the women in the comparison group self-reported having been sexually abused before age 13 and were reclassified into the victim group.

Before doing so, however, a series of comparisons was made between self-reported and "official " victims that showed no statistically significant differences between the two groups. However, official victims were likelier to have been arrested for any offense and for drug offenses. In addition, a higher percentage of official victims experienced victimization by strangers and incidents that involved force or penetration, which may have been a factor in why they were officially reported in the 1970s.