Project Summary Alcohol-involved sexual violence (SV) is a common and detrimental experience for young adult women. To supplement SV prevention strategies aimed at perpetrators of SV–who always assume full responsibility for the occurrence of SV–risk reduction programs that target women’s drinking have been developed and implemented. While promising, these programs have limited efficacy and research that examines novel predictors of women’s SV victimization using innovative approaches is needed to address the limitations of these risk reduction programs and associated research. It is commonly advised that people eat a calorie-rich meal ahead of a night of drinking to prevent adverse alcohol-related consequences. However, sociocultural pressures to approximate a thin body type and to drink alcohol in social settings encourage women to engage in alcohol-motivated restricted eating (AMRE) on drinking days. Nearly one in two young adult women (~45%) engage in AMRE and are motivated to do so to account for the calories consumed through alcohol or to enhance the intoxicating effects of alcohol. Indeed, women who engage in AMRE are significantly more likely to binge drink and become intoxicated than women who do not. Among other negative outcomes that have been investigated (e.g., getting injured, blacking out), it is likely that women who engage in AMRE and frequently become more intoxicated are at an increased risk of experiencing SV because of their proximity to perpetrators, but not studies to date have examined this possibility. Drawing on these findings, the central hypotheses in the present study are that the interactive effect of engaging in AMRE and drinking alcohol is likely to increase proximal alcohol intoxication and SV victimization. In addition, we expect that this interactive effect between AMRE and alcohol use will predict more SV victimization through increases in acute intoxication. To test these hypotheses, a community sample of 80 young adult women will complete daily measures of AMRE, alcohol use, intoxication, and SV victimization over 56 days using electronic daily diaries (EDD). Inclusive efforts will be made to recruit women with diverse sexual orientations and racial and ethnic identities to ensure a representative sample is achieved. Participants will complete self-report measures of the previous day’s engagement in AMRE, alcohol consumption, intoxication, and experiences of SV (i.e., any form of unwanted sexual contact). This innovative approach to the study of SV risk factors will address limitations in scope and methodology of existing literature and will expand our understanding of the consequences of engaging in AMRE to a novel adverse outcome, namely SV victimization. Results from this study will inform the development of more comprehensive and effective SV risk reduction programs, and in turn, help to reduce rates of AMRE, intoxication, and SV victimization in young adult women.

Project Narrative High rates of alcohol-involved sexual violence (SV) victimization and adverse health outcomes (e.g., psychological distress, poor coping strategies) among women poses a significant public health problem. Novel etiological models aimed at understanding victimization risk for alcohol-involved SV can increase the efficacy of risk reduction strategies. The proposed project will use an 8-week electronic daily diary design to examine how alcohol-motivated restricted eating and alcohol use contribute to acute alcohol intoxication and SV victimization among a sample of young adult women.