Sexual Assault Resistance Education’s Benefits for Survivors of Attempted and Completed Rape

Figures & data

Figure 1. Chained multiple mediation model explaining program reductions in sexual assault. Note. Primary mediators are variables that explain a portion of the EAAA program’s (Group) effect on sexual assault victimization and have a direct link to the outcome (Sexual Assault). Secondary mediators are variables that do not have a direct link to the outcome themselves but rather influence a primary mediator. See Senn et al. (2021) for more detail. Dashed line indicates that the relationship between Group and Sexual Assault is fully mediated by the model. OwnRisk: perceived risk of acquaintance rape; FPrecip: belief in female precipitation of rape; RapeMyth: rape myth acceptance; RiskDet: risk detection; DResist: direct resistance; SDSE: self-defense self-efficacy.

Table 1. Baseline comparisons among groups (N = 851).

Participant characteristic	Previous completed rape (N = 196)	Previous attempted rape only (N = 100)	No previous any rape (N = 555)	P-value
Assigned randomly to EAAA, n (%)	95 (48.5)	44 (44.0)	291 (52.4)	0.24
Age in years, M (SD)	18.6 (1.4)	18.5 (1.1)	18.4 (1.2)	0.10
Race/ethnicity, n (%)*
White/European	160 (81.6)	80 (80.0)	381 (68.6)	0.002
Black/African Canadian	11 (5.6)	6 (6.0)	45 (8.1)
East Asian	4 (2.1)	4 (4.0)	56 (10.1)
Other	21 (10.7)	10 (10.0)	73 (13.2)
Sexual orientation, n (%)^†
Heterosexual	181 (92.4)	93 (93.0)	508 (91.5)
Lesbian/gay/bisexual	12 (6.1)	4 (4.0)	27 (4.9)	0.60
Not sure	3 (1.5)	3 (3.0)	20 (3.6)
Living in a university residence, n (%)	107 (54.6)	66 (66.0)	293 (52.8)	0.051
Sexually active, n (%)	179 (91.3)	75 (75.0)	270 (48.6)	<0.001
Currently involved in a romantic relationship, n (%)	102 (52.0)	49 (49.0)	229 (42.3)	0.022
Currently involved in a sexual relationship, n (%)	117 (59.7)	58 (58.0)	205 (36.9)	<0.001
Previous sexual assault education, n (%)	10 (5.1)	5 (5.0)	19 (3.4)	0.51
Previous self-defense training, n (%)	53 (27.0)	47 (47.0)	185 (33.3)	0.003
Sexual victimization since the age of 14 years, n (%)
Coercion	109 (55.6)	23 (23.0)	58 (10.4)	<0.001
Attempted coercion	122 (62.2)	51 (51.0)	88 (15.9)	<0.001
Nonconsensual sexual contact	181 (92.3)	78 (78.0)	170 (30.6)	<0.001
Perceived Risk of Acquaintance Rape, M (SD)	2.2 (1.1)	2.0 (0.9)	1.6 (0.9)	<0.001
Rape Myth Acceptance, M (SD)	32.1 (10.7)	32.8 (12.3)	32.0 (12.7)	0.84
Belief in Female Precipitation of Rape, M (SD)	15.1 (7.0)	15.0 (7.1)	15.4 (7.6)	0.86
Self-Defense Self-Efficacy, M (SD)	41.5 (8.4)	45.5 (8.0)	45.4 (7.8)	<0.001

*Among the 64 East Asian women, 6.3% experienced previous completed rape and 6.3% experienced previous attempted rape only, compared to 17.7% and 9.7% among the 62 Black/African Canadian women, compared to 25.8% and 12.9% among the 621 White/European women. † Among the 43 lesbian/gay/bisexual women, 27.9% experienced previous completed rape and 9.3% experienced previous attempted rape only, compared to 23.1% and 11.9% among the 782 heterosexual women.

Table 2. Comparisons of secondary (Indirect) and primary (Direct) mediator scores by intervention and rape history.

	Previous completed rape	Previous attempted rape only	No previous any rape	Previous completed rape	Previous attempted rape only	No previous any rape	Previous completed rape	Previous attempted ape only	No previous any rape
	(N = 95) (N = 101)	(N = 44) (N = 56)	(N = 291) (N = 264)	(N = 95) (N = 101)	(N = 44) (N = 56)	(N = 291) (N = 264)	(N = 95) (N = 101)	(N = 44) (N = 56)	(N = 291) (N = 264)
Secondary mediators	Perceived risk of acquaintance rape			Rape myth acceptance			Belief in female precipitation of rape
Baseline, M (SE)
EAAA	2.2 (0.1)	2.2 (0.1)	1.7 (0.1)	33.1 (1.1)	34.3 (2.1)	31.4 (0.7)	15.2 (0.7)	14.5 (1.2)	15.1 (0.4)
Control	2.2 (0.1)	1.9 (0.1)	1.6 (0.1)	31.2 (1.0)	31.6 (1.4)	32.7 (0.8)	15.0 (0.7)	15.5 (0.9)	15.6 (0.5)
Post-test
EAAA, M (SE)*	3.5 (0.1)	3.5 (0.2)	3.4 (0.1)	24.2 (0.9)	23.4 (1.3)	23.6 (0.5)	10.4 (0.6)	10.6 (0.8)	9.9 (0.3)
Control*	2.7 (0.1)	2.7 (0.1)	2.4 (0.1)	32.8 (0.9)	32.9 (1.1)	32.1 (0.5)	15.3 (0.6)	15.6 (0.7)	16.1 (0.3)
Difference, M (SE)*	0.8 (0.2)	0.8 (0.2)	1.0 (0.1)	−8.6 (1.2)	−9.5 (1.7)	−8.5 (0.7)	−4.9 (0.8)	−5.0 (1.1)	−6.2 (0.5)
Cohen’s d	0.67	0.72	0.86	1.00	1.12	0.97	0.87	0.91	1.09
p value	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Moderation P-value	0.49			0.84			0.27
Primary mediators	Self-defense self-efficacy			Risk assessment			Direct resistance
Baseline, M (SE)
EAAA	41.3 (0.8)	46.1 (1.0)	44.6 (0.4)	-----		-----	-----		-----
Control	41.7 (0.9)	45.0 (1.2)	46.1 (0.5)	-----		-----	-----		-----
Post-test
EAAA, M (SE)*	54.3 (0.5)	54.0 (0.8)	53.8 (0.3)	55.2 (0.8)	56.9 (1.1)	56.9 (0.5)	29.6 (0.8)	31.1 (1.1)	33.2 (0.5)
Control*	46.2 (0.5)	46.2 (0.7)	47.4 (0.3)	52.8 (0.8)	51.9 (1.0)	55.4 (0.5)	24.8 (0.7)	25.7 (1.0)	30.0 (0.5)
Difference, M (SE)*	8.1 (0.8)	7.8 (1.0)	6.4 (0.5)	2.4 (1.1)	5.0 (1.5)	1.5 (0.7)	4.8 (1.1)	5.4 (1.5)	3.2 (0.7)
Cohen’s d	1.53	1.51	1.12	0.31	0.66	0.19	0.64	0.73	0.40
p value	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	0.03	0.001	0.03	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Moderation P-value	0.09			0.10			0.21

*Adjusted means (SE) and adjusted mean differences calculated from a linear mixed model that accounted for within-session clustering and baseline scores.

Table 3. One-year Kaplan–Meier sexual assault risks.

Outcome	Group	Previous completed rape (N = 95) (N = 101)	Previous attempted rape only (N = 44) (N = 56)	No previous any rape (N = 291) (N = 264)	P-value
Completed rape	EAAA, %	16.4	7.1	0.7	<0.001
	Control, %	22.7	13.1	4.6	<0.001
	Absolute risk reduction, %	−6.3	−6.0	−3.9
	95% CI, %	(−18.1 to 5.6)	(−17.6 to 5.6)	(−6.7 to − 1.2)
	Relative risk reduction, %	27.7	45.8	84.8
	P-value	0.25	0.36	0.013
Attempted rape	EAAA, %	9.8	4.7	1.4	<0.001
	Control, %	15.5	25.8	3.5	0.012
	Absolute risk reduction, %	−5.7	−21.1	−2.1
	95% CI, %	(−15.2 to 3.7)	(−33.6 to − 8.7)	(−5.1 to 1.0)
	Relative risk reduction, %	36.8	81.8	60.0
	P-value	0.23	0.011	0.19
Completed or attempted rape	EAAA, %	21.7	11.7	2.1	<0.001
	Control, %	31.0	31.4	6.9	<0.001
	Absolute risk reduction, %	−9.3	−19.7	−4.8
	95% CI, %	(−21.8 to 3.1)	(−34.8 to − 4.5)	(−8.7 to − 1.0)
	Relative risk reduction, %	30.0	62.7	69.6
	P-value	0.12	0.027	0.018

Note. Risk estimates, absolute risk reductions, and relative risk reductions were calculated from Kaplan–Meier failure curves with variance inflation for within-session clustering. As is most appropriate for analyses with groups with varying rates of risk and unequal cell sizes, we focus on relative risk reductions rather than p values (Cutter, 2020).

Table 4. Between-intervention comparisons of rape attribution self-blame subscale scores by experience of previous completed rape among participants who experienced a completed rape after enrollment in the study (n = 45).

Group	Previous completed rape (n = 13) (n = 14)	Previous attempted rape only (n = 2) (n = 5)	No previous any rape (n = 2) (n = 9)	P-value
Self-Blame
EAAA, M (SE)	17.0 (1.2)	19.0 (3.2)	6.5 (3.2)	0.01
Control, M (SE)	20.8 (1.2)	20.0 (2.0)	15.8 (1.5)	0.037
Difference, M (SE)	−3.8 (1.7)	−1.0 (3.8)	−9.3 (3.5)
P-value	0.035	0.79	0.012

Senn, C. Y., Eliasziw, M., Hobden, K. L., Barata, P., Radtke, H. L., Thurston, W. E., & Newby-Clark, I. (2021). Exploring the mechanisms underlying the efficacy of a sexual assault resistance education program for women through a chained multiple mediation analysis. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 45(1), 20–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684320962561

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Cutter, G. (2020). Effect size or statistical significance, where to put your money. Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders, 38, 101490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msard.2019.101490

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