Project Summary/Abstract
The objective of the proposed project is to examine alcohol-related sexual assault in sexual minority (i.e.,
lesbian, gay, bisexual, or another non-heterosexual sexual orientation [LGB+]) college students to determine
(1) whether alcohol use temporally precedes and increases the risk for sexual assault perpetration and
victimization, (2) whether sexual assault victimization temporally precedes and increases the risk for alcohol
use, (3) whether daily (e.g., sexual orientation discrimination) and distal (e.g., internalized homophobia, LGB+
community connectedness) sexual minority stress and protective factors moderate the alcohol-sexual assault
links, and (4) whether findings vary for LGB+ students with other intersecting social identities (i.e., gender
identity; ethnic minority).
Sexual assault encompasses any forced sexual act, including forced touching or kissing and verbally/physically
coerced intercourse, including vaginal, anal, or oral penetration. Rates of sexual assault perpetration and
victimization are as high, if not higher, among LGB+ college students relative to their heterosexual peers. The
proposed project will investigate the temporal relationships between alcohol use and sexual assault in 352
LGB+ heavy drinking college students. Unfortunately, there is no research on whether sexual minority stress
(e.g., internalized homophobia, identity concealment, sexual orientation discrimination) and protective factors
(e.g., LGB+-specific social support, LGB+ community connectedness) moderate the temporal relationships
between alcohol use and sexual assault among LGB+ populations. Moreover, no research has examined how
holding multiple marginalized identities (i.e., gender minority; ethnic minority) intersect to impact the
associations between alcohol, minority stress, and sexual assault among LGB+ students.
Participants will complete a baseline assessment followed by brief daily surveys each day for 60 consecutive
days. The daily assessments will allow for accurate reporting on the temporal relationship between alcohol,
minority stress, and sexual assault. A subsample (n = ~75) of participants who experience sexual assault
during the daily diary period will complete a follow-up interview to further examine the impact of
intersectionality on alcohol, minority stress, and SA associations. An integrated theoretical framework, which
considers theoretical models of alcohol-related sexual assault (i.e., alcohol myopia) and sexual minority stress,
is utilized to guide this study. This project has the potential to provide crucial information that can be used to
inform the development of LGB+ affirming sexual assault prevention and intervention programs.
