Outcomes of Sexual Assault Victimization in Early Adulthood: National Estimates for University and Nonuniversity Students

Abstract

Across the United States, 20% of women ages 18 and over are victims of penetrative sexual assault, with the highest rates occurring in early adulthood (i.e., ages 18-24). Despite the high prevalence and severe mental and physical health problems resulting from sexual assault, with few exceptions, little is known about how victims of sexual assault attribute subsequent academic and career outcomes. Approximately 901 adult participants were recruited from a probability-based nationally representative sample to examine the prevalence of and outcomes attributed to sexual assault victimization experienced during early adulthood. Of the 36% of female participants who reported sexual assault perpetrated against them between the ages of 18 and 24, 69.5% attributed at least one negative academic or career outcome to the sexual assault. Participants who identified as White and who were over the age of 30 at the time of the survey were more likely to attribute negative academic and career outcomes as a result of a sexual assault perpetrated against them during early adulthood than women of color and younger women (i.e., ages 25-29). Our findings expand the knowledge on negative outcomes attributed to sexual assault and yields more questions about the larger societal impacts. More research is needed to understand the intersection between an assault during young adulthood and the demographic characteristics of survivors.