Differences in Women’s Substance-Related Sexual Assaults: Force, Impairment, and Combined Assault Types

Abstract

This study furthers previous research on sexual assaults (SAs) involving substances and/or force by examining effects of perpetrator behaviors of alcohol and/or drug impairment level (none, impaired, incapacitated) and/or force during SA in relationship to various assault and recovery outcomes. A diverse sample of 632 women from a large Midwestern city participated in a study on women’s experiences with SA. Of this sample of substance-involved SAs, 37.3% ( n = 236) reported a forcible-only unimpaired assault, 50.6% ( n = 320) reported a combined impairment/incapacitation and force assault, and 12% ( n = 76) reported an impaired/incapacitated-only assault. Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVAs) and chi-square analyses compared assault types as defined by combined alcohol and/or drug impairment level and/or force to determine how these assaults differed in demographics, other assault characteristics, and post-assault experiences. Assault types differed on several demographic, assault, and post-assault factors with most differences showing that the combined assault type was related to worse outcomes than forcible-type assaults, including greater reexperiencing, avoidance, and numbing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Implications for clinical intervention include recognizing that assaults involving substance use and force are traumatic and warrant individualized treatment.