Does sex education before college protect students from sexual assault in college?

Purpose
College-bound young people experience sexual assault, both before and after they enter college. This study examines historical risk factors (experiences and exposures that occurred prior to college) for penetrative sexual assault (PSA) victimization since entering college.
Methods
A cross-sectional study, including an online population-based quantitiative survey with undergraduate students was conducted in spring 2016. Bivariate analyses and multivariable regressions examined risk and protective factors associated with ever experiencing PSA since entering college. Concurrently-collected in-depth ethnographic interviews with 151 students were reviewed for information related to factors identified in the survey.
Results
In bivariate analyses, multiple historical factors were significantly associated with PSA in college including adverse childhood experiences and having experienced unwanted sexual contact before college (for women) and initiation of alcohol, marijuana, and sexual behaviors before age 18. Significant independent risk factors for college PSA included female gender, experiencing unwanted sexual contact before college, first oral sex before age 18, and “hooking up” (e.g., causual sex or sex outside a committed partnership) in high school. Receipt of school-based sex education promoting refusal skills before age 18 was an independent protective factor; abstinence-only instruction was not. In the ethnographic interviews, students reported variable experiences with sex education before college; many reported it was awkward and poorly delivered.
Conclusions
Multiple experiences and exposures prior to college influenced the risk of penetrative sexual assault in college. Pre-college comprehensive sexuality education, including skills-based training in refusing unwanted sex, may be an effective strategy for preventing sexual assault in college. Sexual assault prevention needs to begin earlier; successful prevention before college should complement prevention efforts once students enter college.

一、研究目的
即将步入大学的青年群体在入学前后均可能遭遇性侵害。本研究针对大学入学后发生的插入式性侵害（penetrative sexual assault, PSA）受害问题，探讨大学入学前的既往风险因素（即大学入学前发生的各类经历与暴露情况）。

二、研究方法
本研究于2016年春季开展一项横断面研究，包含针对在校本科生的基于人群的线上定量调查。采用双变量分析与多变量回归模型，分析大学入学后曾遭遇插入式性侵害的相关风险与保护因素。同时，本研究对151名学生开展同步深度民族志访谈，并梳理访谈中与调查识别出的因素相关的信息。

三、研究结果
双变量分析结果显示，多项大学入学前的既往因素与大学期间的插入式性侵害显著相关，包括不良童年经历、大学前曾遭遇非意愿性性接触（仅针对女性群体），以及18岁前首次饮酒、吸食大麻与发生性行为。大学期间插入式性侵害的独立显著风险因素包括：女性性别、大学前曾遭遇非意愿性性接触、18岁前首次接受口交，以及高中时期的临时性性行为（如随性性行为或非承诺伴侣关系外的性行为）。18岁前接受校内性教育并习得拒绝技能为独立保护因素，而仅强调禁欲的性教育则无保护效果。在民族志访谈中，学生们反馈大学前的性教育体验参差不齐，多数人认为该类教育尴尬且效果欠佳。

四、研究结论
本研究表明，大学入学前的多项经历与暴露情况均会影响大学期间插入式性侵害的发生风险。大学入学前开展涵盖拒绝非意愿性性行为技能培训的综合性性教育，或可成为预防大学期间性侵害的有效策略。性侵害预防工作需更早启动，大学入学前的有效预防举措应与学生入校后的预防工作形成互补。