Effects of social support on the association between precollege sexual assault and college-onset victimization

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study examined the moderating and mediating effects of perceived social support on the association between precollege sexual assault (SA) and college-onset SA. Participants: A representative sample of 6,132 undergraduates. Methods: The PLUM procedure in SPSS was used to test the moderation model, with individual regressions conducted in a hierarchical fashion. A weighted least squared mean and variance adjusted (WLSMV) mediation model was used to examine the mediating effect of social support. Results: Precollege SA significantly predicted college-onset SA. Social support significantly mediated the relation between precollege SA and college-onset SA. Social support was not a significant moderator of this relationship. Conclusions: Given the high prevalence of SA among college populations, as well as the high rates of SA revictimization, identification of factors that may be related to repeated SA (eg, low social support) within this population are essential and may inform intervention, policy, and university student services.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual assault
• revictimization
• social support
• trauma
• resilience

Author contributions

Spit for Science: The Student Survey has been supported by P20 AA107828, R37AA011408, K02AA018755, K02 AA023239, and P50 AA022537 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and UL1RR031990 from the National Center for Research Resources and National Institutes of Health Roadmap for Medical Research. Ms. Hawn is supported by F31 AA025820. We would like to thank the Spit for Science students for making this study a success, as well as the many faculty, students, and staff who contributed to the design and implementation of the project. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.