(PS1-D79) Sexual Victimization and Sexual Behavior: How Does Condom Use Play a Role?

Dating and sexual violence are considered ongoing problems across universities in the United States. Among undergraduates, 26.4% of females and 6.8% of males experience sexual assault (RAINN, 2020), and 57% of those individuals said the assault occurred in college (Domestic Violence Statistics, 2021). Along with sexual victimization, high-risk sexual behaviors are a growing concern for college students. Over a 12 month period 23.8% of women and 33.7% of men used a condom (Copen, 2017). Abundant research focuses on how high-risk sex puts someone at risk for sexual assault, but little research has focused on changes in sexual behaviors after victimization. Research has found that women who experienced rape were three times more likely to have never used condoms (Weaver, 2009). Additionally, research has revealed mixed results in that sexual assault can increase sexual activity (Deliramich & Gray, 2008), decrease sexual activity (Perilloux et al., 2012 ), and both increase and decrease sexual activity (O’Callaghan et al., 2019). In the present study, we examined how condom use during oral, vaginal, and anal sex mediated the number of sexual partners in the last year for individuals who experienced sexual victimization. For this study, the number of sexual partners in the last year was an indicator of high-risk sexual behaviors with higher numbers of partners in the last year indicating greater risk because research supports that individuals are at greater risk for acquiring sexually transmitted diseases and/or experiencing sexual victimization as their number of sexual partners increases (Martin-Storey & Fromme, 2016). We utilized data from 197,487 university students in the United States who completed the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment III (Mage = 23.16, Sexfemale = 68.5%, Sexmale = 31.4%, Sexintersex = < 0.1%). Preliminary analyses found that four out of five sexual violence variables significantly predicted number of sexual partners in the last year at p < .0001. Additionally, all condom use (oral, vaginal, and anal) significantly predicted number of sexual partners. We also found that being forced into unwanted sexual contact by being held down or hurt was the only sexual victimization variable that predicted infrequent use of condoms during oral sex and sexual touching without consent predicted infrequent use of condoms during vaginal sex (p < .001). There were no significant predictors for condom use during anal sex. Infrequent condom use during vaginal sex significantly mediated the relation between sexual touching without consent and number of sexual partners, and infrequent condom use during oral sex mediated the relation between being forced into unwanted sexual contact by being held down or hurt and number of sexual partners. The implications of this research describe how individuals navigate safe sex with experiences of sexual violence and how that might further impact one’s engagement in sexual behaviors. Results may further highlight the lack of understanding in responses to sexual victimization as well as how sexual behaviors may change responses to those experiences.