Sexual Victimization and Sex-Related Drinking Motives: How Protective is Emotion Regulation?

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Sociology

Background:

• Sexual victimization (SV) is prevalent among college women, often leading to psychological distress.
• SV severity correlates with sex-related distress and potentially sex-related drinking motives (SRDMs).
• Emotion regulation (ER) difficulties may exacerbate the link between SV and SRDMs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the moderating role of emotion regulation (ER) facets on the relationship between sexual victimization (SV) severity and sex-related drinking motives (SRDMs) in college women.
• To determine if ER strategies buffer the impact of SV on motivations to drink for coping or enhancement.

Main Methods:

• 151 college women completed surveys assessing ER, SV history (including childhood sexual abuse - CSA), and SRDMs.
• Twelve regression models examined six ER facets as moderators between SV severity and SRDMs.

Main Results:

• Among women with low SV severity, higher ER access was linked to lower endorsement of drinking to cope SRDMs.
• At high SV severity levels, ER access did not mitigate motivations for drinking to cope with sex-related distress.
• ER strategies may act as a protective factor against SRDMs only when SV severity is low.

Conclusions:

• College women with severe SV histories may require interventions addressing ER strengths or other contributing factors.
• Interventions could focus on building ER skills or alternative coping mechanisms for those with significant SV experiences.
• Enhanced ER access appears protective against SRDMs in contexts of lower SV severity.