Concerns About Sexual Assault in Undergraduate Students Are Greater in Women and Risky Drinking Contexts: relevance for Drinking Habits, Problems, and Decisions

Background: This study investigated sex differences in concerns about unwanted sexual advances (CAUSA) in drinking contexts that varied in terms of the familiarity of people and location, and size of the party. Hypotheses tested were: women have more CAUSA than men, CAUSA are higher in unfamiliar large events than familiar small events for women more than men, and CAUSA will predict decisions to drink less especially in unfamiliar contexts. Methods: Drinking decisions were assessed in 569 (120 men, 449 women) undergraduate students in 8 randomly presented hypothetical scenarios varying along 3 dimensions: Closeness with friends attending, Location familiarity, and Size of the event. Results: Analyses revealed that women had more CAUSA than men (p < .00001), that CAUSA were higher for women when with acquaintances than with close friends (p < .0001) and that CAUSA were higher in unfamiliar large party settings than familiar small get-together settings (ps < .0001). CAUSA was a stronger predictor (p < .05) of decisions to drink less in unfamiliar large party events (p < .0001, R2 =, 0.085) compared with familiar small gatherings (p < .0001, R2 =, 0.038) for both men and women. Conclusions: Overall, concerns about unwanted sexual advances are higher in women and in unfamiliar contexts and are modest predictors of drinking decisions in men and women.