Social workers responsible for developing rape prevention programs on college campuses must have valid evaluation instruments. This article presents the challenges encountered by the authors when they attempted to keep rape myth measures relevant to student populations by updating the language to reflect the subtleties involved with rape myths. The development of a modified version of the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale is described. Focus groups were conducted to gather feedback about the language used by college students related to sexual encounters and rape. The instrument was then tested with 951 undergraduate students at a large northeastern university. Exploratory structural equation modeling was used to assess the factor structure of the scale. In addition, multiple-indicators multiple-causes modeling was used to assess the potential differential item functioning of the measure's items by gender, previous experience with sexual assault prevention programming, and knowing someone who was sexually assaulted. A four-factor structure was hypothesized and a five-factor structure supported, indicating a separate factor that looks at alcohol and accountability. Implications for social workers are discussed, including the necessity of continuously updating rape myth measures to ensure validity. KEY WORDS: measurement; prevention; rape ********** According to the most recent National Violence Against Women Survey, 17.7 million women in the United States were raped at some point in their lives (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2006). The high number of victims has resulted in the implementation of rape prevention programs in a variety of social work practice settings, especially in high schools and on college campuses, where rape seems to be especially problematic. The primary focus of rape prevention programs in schools is often on changing individuals' beliefs in rape myths, defined as false beliefs about rape shaped by sexism and other prejudices individuals hold (Burt, 1980; Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1994). Common rape myths cited over time include the belief that the way a woman dresses or acts indicates that she asked for it and that rape occurs because men cannot control their sexual impulses. Researchers have demonstrated that the acceptance of rape myths not only indicates problematic attitudes, but also is an explanatory predictor in the actual perpetration of sexual violence or proclivity to rape (Hinck & Thomas, 1999). The failure to have psychometrically sound outcome measures has hampered the accumulation of evidence-based practice knowledge in this area (Farmer & McMahon, 2005; Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1995). One of the major validity problems with rape myth measures hinges on the issue of language. The reliability and validity of surveys depends, in part, on questions being clear and relevant to the respondents, yet the language used in rape myth measures is often outdated, antiquated, and irrelevant to groups such as high school and college students. Many rape education prevention programs use instruments that were developed years or even decades ago, which raises serious concerns about their validity for high school and college students, as the instruments' language and context are not a part of current student culture. SUBTLE RAPE MYTHS Many of the measures currently used to assess rape myth attitudes fail to capture the more subtle and covert rape myths that have evolved. As many high schools and colleges have implemented some form of education on issues of sexual violence over the past decade, students have greater awareness that certain traditional rape myths are not socially acceptable (Frazier, Valtinson, & Candell, 1994). However, these myths may exist in various, more subtle and covert forms that are not being accurately assessed because of the phrasing of questions, language used, and subsequent social desirability bias. The complexity of rape myths is especially apparent among college students, who likely received exposure to rape prevention education in some shape or form by the time they graduated from high school. …

An Updated Measure for Assessing Subtle Rape Myths.

The goal of this research was to extend prior work on adult attachment and sexuality, which has tended to focus on samples of adolescents and undergraduate students. A Canadian sample of 116 married couples aged 21–75 years completed self-report measures of adult attachment, marital, and sexual satisfaction. Results revealed that participants with higher levels of anxiety and avoidance reported lower levels of sexual satisfaction at the individual level. Individuals with more avoidant spouses also reported lower levels of sexual satisfaction. Furthermore, the relationship between sexual and marital satisfaction was stronger for more anxiously attached individuals and those with more anxiously attached spouses. These results suggest that attachment is linked in theoretically predictable ways to marital and sexual satisfaction.

Adult attachment, sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction: A study of married couples

Alcohol expectancy theory: The application ofcognitive neuroscience

The authors explored the contribution of individual differences in attachment orientations to the experience of sexual intercourse and its association with relationship quality. In Study 1, 500 participants completed self-report scales of attachment orientations and sexual experience. The findings indicated that whereas attachment anxiety was associated with an ambivalent construal of sexual experience, attachment avoidance was associated with more aversive sexual feelings and cognitions. In Study 2, 41 couples reported on their attachment orientations and provided daily diary measures of sexual experiences and relationship interactions for a period of 42 days. Results showed that attachment anxiety amplified the effects of positive and negative sexual experiences on relationship interactions. In contrast, attachment avoidance inhibited the positive relational effect of having sex and the detrimental relational effects of negative sexual interactions. The authors discuss the possibility that attachment orientations are associated with different sex-related strategies and goals within romantic relationships.

When sex is more than just sex: attachment orientations, sexual experience, and relationship quality.

Drinking to cope with the pandemic: The unique associations of COVID-19-related perceived threat and psychological distress to drinking behaviors in American men and women.

Motivational models of substance use: A review of theory and research on motives for using alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco.

Motivational Models of Substance Use

Objective:Men’s heavy drinking has been established as a risk factor for their perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV); however, the role of women’s drinking in their perpetration of IPV is less clear The current study examined the relative strength of husbands’ and wives’ alcohol use and alcohol dependence symptoms on the occurrence and frequency of husbands’ and wives’ IPV perpetrationMethod:Married and cohabiting community couples (N = 280) were identified and recruited according to their classification in one of four drinking groups: heavy episodic drinking occurred in both partners (n = 79), the husband only (n = 80), the wife only (n = 41), and neither (n = 80) Husband and wife alcohol consumption, alcohol dependence symptoms, and IPV perpetration were assessed independently for both partnersResults:Husband and wife consumption and alcohol dependence symptoms contributed to the likelihood and frequency of husband IPV, both independently and interactively Husband, but not wife, alcohol d

/pdf/husband-and-wife-alcohol-use-as-independent-or-interactive-4anxh4chdi.pdf

Husband and Wife Alcohol Use as Independent or Interactive Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence

Attachment Styles, Sex Motives, and Sexual Behavior: Evidence for Gender-Specific Expressions of Attachment Dynamics.

Objective:Although couples’ alcohol use has been associated with intimate partner aggression and poorer marital functioning, few studies have examined the proximal effects of alcohol on couple interactions. The current experimental study examined the effects of alcohol, administered independently to male and female intimate partners, on positive and negative interaction behaviors within a naturalistic conflict resolution paradigm.Method:Married and cohabiting couples (n = 152) were recruited from the community and each partner randomly assigned to receive either alcohol (target dose: .08 mg/kg) or no alcohol. They engaged in two 15-minute interactions regarding current disagreements in their relationship, one before and one after beverage administration. Videotaped interactions were coded by trained observers using the Rapid Marital Interaction Coding System, and positive and negative interaction behaviors were analyzed using the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model.Results:Participants displayed decreased...

Effects of Administered Alcohol on Intimate Partner Interactions in a Conflict Resolution Paradigm

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