Sexual minority status and interpersonal victimization in college men.

Abstract

Sexual minority men are at increased risk for sexual victimization at all ages compared to heterosexual men; yet, most research on victimization focuses on the experiences of heterosexual women. This study compares the rates of multiple forms of interpersonal violence (violence perpetrated by another person) in a sample of sexual minority status college men and heterosexual men on campus. Participants (n = 53 sexual minority men; n = 364 heterosexual) completed an anonymous Web survey containing measures of childhood abuse, adolescent/adult sexual victimization, adolescent/adult sexual aggression, intimate partner victimization and aggression, rape empathy, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, and social desirability. Analyses of covariance, covarying for demographic characteristics and social desirability, revealed that sexual minority men were more likely to experience the most severe forms of adolescent/adult sexual victimization as well as childhood emotional abuse. There were no differences in rates of sexual aggression or intimate partner violence. Sexual minority men who experienced sexual assault were more likely to report being assaulted by other men than were heterosexual men. Regarding self-reported sexual aggression, we found no differences in rates of sexual aggression. Sexual minority men had higher levels of rape empathy and rape acknowledgment than heterosexual men. Our results indicate sexual minority men are at higher risk than heterosexual men for the most severe forms of sexual victimization and experience different psychological consequences of sexual victimization indicating there may be a need for specialized intervention services.

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