The Relationship between Heavy Episodic Drinking, Sexual Assaulting and Being Sexually Assaulted for Southern Urban University Students

Several studies have linked heavy episodic drinking to multiple negative outcomes for college students. Those outcomes include accidents, injury, addiction, and sexual assault. The focus of this article is sexual assault. Responses to the CORE Alcohol and Drug Survey were used to measure heavy episodic drinking and 'being taken advantage of sexually' or 'taking advantage of someone sexually' (referred to as 'sexual assault' throughout this article). Results of ANOVAs revealed that, for women, being sexually assaulted was related to heavy episodic drinking and for men, sexually assaulting and being sexually assaulted were both related to heavy episodic drinking. These results are in agreement with past research and provide new data about the relationship, for men, between heavy episodic drinking and being sexually assaulted. Suggestions for future research include researching initiators' and receivers' reports of sexual assault to explore the question of gender, especially as it relates to males as receivers of sexual assault. Adapted from the source document.