The Impact of Sexual Violence on Women\u27s Transition to College

Unwanted sexual experiences are a problem for college campus communities. The current study examined the incidence of victimization in a convenience sample of 817 college women in their first semester of college at one of two universities in New England. The aim of the study was to examine changes in social support and indicators of well-being over time that may be associated with experiencing sexual violence. We hypothesized that participants who reported victimization would overall report decreases in social support and well-being and overall show higher levels of stress and distress than students who did not report these experiences. Participants were of traditional college age and 92.2% were White, reflecting the demographics of the two campuses. Measures of social support and psychological distress were assessed at two points, during the first month of their first semester and during the last few weeks of the first semester