DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03212.v1
title: Longitudinal Study of Violence Against Women: Victimization and Perpetration Among College Students in a State-Supported University in the United States, 1990-1995
title: Version 1

description: The purpose of this study was to investigate longitudinally
 the developmental antecedents of physical and sexual violence against
 young women, using a theoretically based multicausal model that
 included characteristics related to the victim, the perpetrator, and
 the environment. The researchers used a classic longitudinal design,
 replicated over two cohorts (those born in 1972 and 1973), each
 assessed first when 18 years old, and again when 19, 20, 21, and 22
 years old. The first survey (Part 1, Female Data) collected
 information on the respondent's experiences of sexual assault from age
 14 to the present (age 18). Other questions focused on the kind of
 person the respondent thought she was, how much of an influence
 religion had on the way she chose to spend each day, her dating
 behavior during high school, the number of times the respondent had
 used behavior such as discussing issues relatively calmly, arguing,
 sulking, stomping out of the room, or threatening to hit, with a
 romantic partner during high school, and how frequently romantic
 partners used these types of behavior with the respondent. Other items
 elicited information on the number of women the respondent knew who
 had been sexually victimized, whether men forced them to engage in
 sexual activities, the nature of the respondent's sexual experience
 from the time she was 14 to the present, the respondent's age when
 each experience occurred, if the respondent or the other person was
 using drugs or alcohol when it happened, if the respondent was
 injured, and whom the respondent told about the
 experience. Information was collected on sexual abuse prior to the age
 of 14 as well. The respondent was also asked to describe how often her
 parents or stepparents had administered physical blows (i.e., hitting,
 kicking, throwing someone down), whether someone had fondled her in a
 sexual way, whether a male had attempted intercourse with the
 respondent, the relationship between the respondent and the
 perpetrator, the respondent's age when the experience occurred, who
 the other person was, who initiated the date or paid for the food,
 drinks, or tickets, whether the respondent or the other person was
 using drugs or alcohol, the respondent's opinions about men and women
 in America (i.e., if the respondent agreed or disagreed that
 chivalrous gestures toward women on the part of men should be
 encouraged), whether the respondent had engaged in sexual intercourse
 when she did not want to because a male threatened or used some degree
 of physical force (twisting her arm, holding her down, etc.), and the
 respondent's drug and alcohol use. The subsequent surveys contained
 measures of sexual assault during each year of college (i.e., since
 the previous survey). Questions asked in subsequent surveys were
 similar to those in the first survey, and the responses are all
 included in Part 1. Questions posed to males (Part 2, Male Data)
 included the number of women the respondent had sexual intercourse
 with, how often the respondent heard talk that speculated how a
 particular woman would be in bed, reasons the respondent engaged in
 sexual activity, number of times the respondent engaged in sexual
 intercourse when a woman didn't want to, and questions similar to
 those in Part 1 with the respondent as the perpetrator. Demographic
 information in Part 1 and Part 2 describes the female or the male
 respondent's education, race, religious preference, sexual
orientation, and marital or relationship status.
description: The purpose of this study was to investigate
 longitudinally the developmental antecedents of physical and sexual
 violence against young women, using a theoretically based multicausal
 model that included characteristics related to the victim, the
 perpetrator, and the environment. The research goals of the study
 focused on physical violence among acquaintances, paralleling the work
 that had already been done on experiences with sexual coercion. The
 researchers were also interested in the co-occurrence of sexual and
 physical assault. The study fills a gap in the knowledge about
 violence against women by addressing the relationship between
 experiences of sexual and physical violence from the perspectives of
 victim and perpetrator. Specific goals were: (1) to explore whether
 and how the characteristics of the agent (perpetrator), the host
 (victim), and the environment (situational/contextual effects)
 individually and in combination affect the risk of physical
 victimization or its perpetration during the developmental stages of
 adolescence and young adulthood, and (2) to examine how the three
 types of factors evolve from one developmental stage to the next to
 predict (a) the onset of victimization or perpetration or (b) the
occurrence of revictimization or reperpetration.
description: Data were analyzed from a National Institute of
 Health-funded five-year longitudinal study (1990-1995) of
 victimization and perpetration among college students demographically
 representative of undergraduate women and men in state-supported
 universities in the United States. The researchers used a classic
 longitudinal design, replicated over two cohorts (those born in 1972
 and 1973), each assessed first when 18 years old, and again when 19,
 20, 21, and 22 years old. The researchers worked with the university
 administration to gain permission to survey students in groups during
 the first day of student orientation, and trained student orientation
 leaders to administer the survey, thus making participation in the
 study an integral part of the student orientation activities. Students
 who did not attend orientation, which was not required, were contacted
 by phone. Before the initial survey was administered, its purpose and
 methods were explained and signed consent was obtained. Students also
 completed contact sheets for the purpose of follow-up. To ensure
 confidentiality and still permit the matching of surveys across time,
 each survey and corresponding contact sheet was assigned a randomly
 determined code number. Only code numbers appeared on surveys and
 answer sheets. Lists of codes and corresponding names were kept in a
 locked safe to protect the identity of participants, and access was
 limited to the co-investigators and the data manager. To further
 ensure confidentiality of the data, and to bolster students'
 confidence in their commitment to protecting confidentiality, the
 researchers obtained a federal Certificate of Confidentiality. Toward
 the end of each spring semester, students were contacted and asked to
 complete a follow-up survey during one of several sessions held at
 various locations around campus. Postcards were sent to remind
 students of the follow-up survey and to announce times and locations
 for the sessions. These sessions were conducted by trained
 undergraduate psychology majors and graduate students. Students who
 did not attend one of these sessions were contacted by telephone and
 invited to participate. They were given the option of attending a
 session being held on campus, or of receiving the survey via
 mail. This was particularly useful for students who had withdrawn from
 the university or who were residing out of town. All students who
 participated in the follow-ups received $15 each time they
 participated. Students who had withdrawn from the university were also
resurveyed.
description: The first survey (Part 1, Female Data) collected
 information on the respondent's experiences of sexual assault from age
 14 to the present (age 18). Other questions focused on the kind of
 person the respondent thought she was, how much of an influence
 religion had on the way she chose to spend each day, her dating
 behavior during high school, the number of times the respondent had
 used behavior such as discussing issues relatively calmly, arguing,
 sulking, stomping out of the room or threatening to hit, with a
 romantic partner during high school, and how frequently romantic
 partners used these types of behavior with the respondent. Other items
 elicited information on the number of women the respondent knew who
 had been sexually victimized, whether men forced them to engage in
 sexual activities, the nature of the respondent's sexual experience
 from the time she was 14 to the present, the respondent's age when
 each experience occurred, if the respondent or the other person was
 using drugs or alcohol when it happened, if the respondent was
 injured, and whom the respondent told about the
 experience. Information was collected on sexual abuse prior to the age
 of 14 as well. The respondent was also asked to describe how often her
 parents or stepparents had administered physical blows (i.e., hitting,
 kicking, throwing someone down), whether someone had fondled her in a
 sexual way, whether a male had attempted intercourse with the
 respondent, the relationship between the respondent and the
 perpetrator, the respondent's age when the experience occurred, who
 the other person was, who initiated the date or paid for the food,
 drinks, or tickets, whether the respondent or the other person was
 using drugs or alcohol, the respondent's opinions about men and women
 in America (i.e., if the respondent agreed or disagreed that
 chivalrous gestures toward women on the part of men should be
 encouraged), whether the respondent had engaged in sexual intercourse
 when she did not want to because a male threatened or used some degree
 of physical force (twisting her arm, holding her down, etc.), and the
 respondent's drug and alcohol use. The subsequent surveys contained
 measures of sexual assault during each year of college (i.e., since
 the previous survey). Questions asked in subsequent surveys were
 similar to those in the first survey, and the responses are all
 included in Part 1. Questions posed to males (Part 2, Male Data)
 included the number of women the respondent had sexual intercourse
 with, how often the respondent heard talk that speculated how a
 particular woman would be in bed, reasons the respondent engaged in
 sexual activity, number of times the respondent engaged in sexual
 intercourse when a woman didn't want to, and questions similar to
 those in Part 1 with the respondent as the perpetrator. Demographic
 information in Part 1 and Part 2 describes the female or the male
 respondent's education, race, religious preference, sexual
orientation, and marital or relationship status.
description: Response Rates: Part 1: Approximately 83 percent of the 1990
 class and 84 percent of the 1991 class provided usable
 surveys. Successive retention rates for each follow-up for the 1990
 sample were 88.2 percent, 83.2 percent, 83.6 percent, and 78.1
 percent. A total of 47.9 percent of the original sample participated
 in the entire project. For the 1991 sample, successive retention rates
 were 90.2 percent, 83.9 percent, 77.9 percent, and 77.1 percent. Of
 the original sample, 45.4 percent of respondents were retained
 throughout the entire project. Part 2: Of the total number of incoming
 men of 1990, 65 percent completed the first survey. Yearly retention
 averaged 71 percent. Twenty-two percent of the original sample
completed all five phases of the study.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Conflict Tactics Scale, and several Likert-type scales
were used.
description: Convenience sampling.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Female Data
DS2: Male Data
description: Undergraduate women and men in a state-supported
university in the United States.