This study used a longitudinal sample of early adolescent boys and girls (ages 10-12; N = 1113) to test a theoretically and empirically informed model suggesting that exposure to peer sexual ...harassment (age 10) predicts more emotional problems (age 12), and that lower appearance esteem (age 11) mediates this relation. On the within-person level, which is the level on which the processes theoretically should play out, we found no support for the proposed mediation model for boys or for girls. Unexpectedly, we found that following times of more exposure to peer sexual harassment than usual, early adolescents instead experienced higher appearance esteem and fewer emotional problems than usual. More research is needed to replicate and understand these unexpected findings.
Peer sexual harassment (PSH) occurs frequently and across contexts during adolescence. The current study examined the relations among PSH in school, psychological distress, sexual experimentation, ...and sexual risk-taking in a sample of African American middle and high school girls. Results indicate that negative body appraisals mediated the relationship between PSH and psychological distress, suggesting that PSH is one way to operationalize interpersonal sexualization and sexual objectification. PSH was directly associated with sexual experimentation, but the association between PSH and sexual experimentation was not mediated by negative body appraisals. Neither PSH nor negative body appraisals were related to sexual risk-taking. This suggests that frequent exposure to high levels of sexualization and sexual objectification, in the form of PSH, is associated with more psychological distress and sexual experimentation, but not with sexual risk-taking, regardless of how girls feel about their bodies.
Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a worldwide social problem which has received much attention from policy makers, researchers, and practitioners. A considerable portion of CSA research has focused on ...adult offenders, the result of which is that most of our existing knowledge regarding prevention and intervention has been based on abuse perpetrated by this population. The current literature review, by contrast, was designed to spotlight the phenomenon of preadolescent peer sexual abuse (PAPSA), focusing on children ages 12 and under, using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The results revealed scant empirical data, with only nine studies focusing on this phenomenon. As the basis of their investigations, most of the reviewed studies used definitions of sexual harassment among peers, rather than definitions of more severe forms of sexual abuse, and showed conflicting results depending on the ages and genders of the peers involved. In addition, prevention programs for peer sexual abuse/harassment were not targeted toward preadolescents. Additional findings indicated a lack of empirical knowledge with respect to core aspects such as victims’ personal characteristics and subjective experience, the dynamic of the abuse, and the disclosure process. This systematic literature review emphasizes the need for an in-depth and thorough conceptualization and empirical examination of the PAPSA phenomenon and its unique characteristics.
Objectives
The paper examines how strongly non-physical peer sexual harassment is associated with a wide range of well-being outcomes from symptoms of depression and anxiety to self-esteem and body ...image.
Methods
Two large community samples of high school students were analyzed (
n
= 1384 and
n
= 1485). Students responded to questionnaires on being subject to non-physical sexual harassment, sexual coercion and forced intercourse, and to well-being indicators ranging from anxiety, depression, self-esteem, body image.
Results
Regression analyses suggest that being harassed by peers in a non-physical way was moderately associated with lower levels of well-being over and above the effect of other risk factors. This effect was present for all indicators of well-being. The effect of peer harassment on depressive symptoms was moderated by sex (affected women more) but not by sexual or ethnic minority status.
Conclusions
The findings imply that although sticks and stones may break bones, it does seem that derogatory words and other forms of non-physical sexual harassment definitely harm high school students.
Abstract The current study describes longitudinal trends in sexual harassment by adolescent peers and highlights gender, pubertal status, attractiveness, and power as predictors of harassment ...victimization. At the end of 5th, 7th, and 9th grades, 242 adolescents completed questionnaires about sexual harassment victimization, pubertal status, and perceived power. Results indicate an increase in sexual harassment from 5th to 9th grade, with boys more likely to report harassment than girls in each grade. An analysis of harassment type indicated no gender difference in 9th grade cross-gender harassment, but boys received more same-gender harassment than girls. Pubertal status predicted concurrent sexual harassment victimization in each grade. Boys and girls with advanced pubertal status at all grades were more likely to be victims of 9th grade same-gender harassment. Adolescents with greater power at all grades were more likely to be victims of 9th grade cross-gender sexual harassment.
Bullying and sexual harassment at school have received recent attention in developed countries; however, they have been neglected in Latin America. Thus, the authors investigated these phenomena ...among 400 Brazilian high school students from two high schools (one private and one public). Analyses using t-tests showed that boys bullied and sexually harassed their peers more often than girls did. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that boys and girls who scored high on general misconduct bullied their peers more often than those who scored low on general misconduct. Boys who believed they would be punished by their teachers for bullying and who scored low on benevolent sexism bullied more often than boys who believed they would not be punished by their teachers and who scored high on benevolent sexism. Moreover, bullying predicted peer sexual harassment for boys and girls. Recommendations to prevent bullying and sexual harassment are offered.
Peer Sexual Harassment Martin, Jennifer L.
Violence against women,
01/2008, Volume:
14, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
This exploratory intervention study examines the effectiveness of a single-sex women's studies course in reducing sexual harassment in an at-risk high school. It was hypothesized that the young ...women's loci of control would become more internal as a result of the course and participants would feel they had more control over their lives. Findings indicate that participants' knowledge of sexual harassment gained from the intervention had been retained and reports of sexual harassment increased. Administrative referrals for sexual harassment within the school were reduced by one third during the semester following the intervention. Participants' perceptions of their levels of internality increased over time.
Black girls in the United States begin to discuss and face issues concerning sexuality in elementary school. However, the contemporary youth sexuality literature focuses on the problems of pubescent ...youth. Within the small body of research that considers preadolescent children’s sexual experiences, Black girls are largely invisible. The omission of young Black girls from the youth sexuality literature suggests that Black girls have the same experiences as White girls or, equally as disconcerting, that preadolescent Black girls are not sexual subjects, do not endure peer sexual harassment, do not express their sexual identities, and do not challenge sexual standards. Using data sources that are integral to Black feminist theorizing, including personal narratives, published memoirs, news stories, and qualitative research, the author interrogates the validity of these underlying assumptions. This essay exposes the ways in which youth sexuality researchers silence and distort prepubescent Black girls’ sexualities.
Longitudinal methods in sex research Petersen, Jennifer; Hyde, Janet Shibley
Sexuality research & social policy,
03/2009, Volume:
6, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Longitudinal research is essential for the understanding of human sexual development. This article highlights the importance of longitudinal data in sex research by considering methodological and ...statistical procedures for conducting longitudinal research. Among other methodological issues, the authors review volunteer bias and attrition in longitudinal data collection. They also evaluate new statistical methods useful for analyzing longitudinal data, including hierarchical linear modeling, structural equation modeling, and growth mixture modeling. To illustrate these considerations, the authors provide an example from data on peer sexual harassment victimization and discuss the opportunities for working with large-scale longitudinal data sets that are available to the public. The authors conclude that longitudinal research is the best method for discovering developmental patterns in sexuality by addressing intra-individual change.
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