Behavioral & Community Health Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2802
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Item THE IMPACT OF HYPERMASCULINITY ON UNDERGRADUATE MEN’S PERCEPTIONS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND CONSENT(2020) Dragan, Andrea; Desmond, Sharon M; Public and Community Health; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In the U.S., approximately 1 out of every 5 women reported a completed or attempted sexual assault in their lifetime, with women ages 18-24 being at significantly higher risk for assault. While sexual assault affects all genders, the majority of sexual assaults on campuses involve men assaulting women. Using a convenience sample of undergraduate men (n=59), this study investigated how hypermasculinity affects undergraduate male’s perceptions of sexual assault, consent, hook-up culture, and rape myth acceptance (RMA) using six validated inventories. Hypermasculinity was significantly associated with RMA (p = .001), and sexual consent attitudes and behaviors, such as a lack of perceived behavioral control (p= .004) and positive attitudes toward consent (p= .001). A significant relationship between hypermasculinity and motivations for participation in hook-up culture was also detected. These findings can inform universities how to utilize their limited resources to provide education to improve the prevalence of sexual assault.Item EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF TWO SEXUAL ASSAULT/ DATE RAPE INTERVENTIONS IN A POPULATION OF COLLEGE FRESHMEN(2010) Jordan, Jessica Brewster; Sawyer, Robin G.; Public and Community Health; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Rape is committed more often than any other violent crime on college campuses. Over the years, various interventions have been developed to educate and positively change college students' attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral intentions regarding sexual assault and date rape. Common educational strategies in the sexual assault and date rape programs include the use of films and/or peer educators to help dispel commonly held date rape myths, to improve attitudes and/or knowledge of rape, to decrease rape-related behavioral intentions, to improve communication about sexual decisions, and to increase self-efficacy towards resisting an unwanted sexual experience. However, many intervention studies lack evaluation data to demonstrate the effectiveness of these programs on college campuses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate two experimental conditions in a sample of freshmen students at the University of Maryland, College Park. One intervention group received a sexual assault/date rape educational film followed by participating in a peer-led discussion; the second intervention group received only a peer education presentation; and the control group received no treatment. Pretest and four- to six-week posttest evaluation surveys were administered to participants to determine the effects of the interventions on attitudes towards rape, rape-related behavioral intentions, and sexual communication self-efficacy. The statistical methods used to analyze these data were paired t-tests and nested ANCOVA models. In addition, a Process Evaluation Survey was also administered to the intervention groups immediately upon their completion to capture an overall assessment of the interventions. Lastly, the peer educators delivering these programs completed evaluations after each presentation. Both intervention groups were found to have statistically significant increases in anti-rape attitudes at posttest, with females reporting higher anti-rape attitude scores compared to males in both interventions. Increases in anti-rape behavioral intentions and sexual communication self-efficacy scores were also reported; however, these changes were not statistically significant compared to the control group at posttest. The quantitative and qualitative data collected from the Process Evaluation Surveys and the Peer Educator Evaluations provided further guidance on how to improve the interventions.