The Association Between Sexual Victimization History and Consensual and Nonconsensual Rough Sex: Findings from a U.S. Nationally Representative Survey.

Objective: Rough sex is increasingly common among younger cohorts. Preliminary evidence suggests that engagement in rough sex is not always consensual, and it may be associated with a history of sexual victimization. This study sought to examine that relationship in a large U.S. national sample.

Method: Participants (weighted N = 4,546) were recruited to complete an online survey in which they were asked about their experiences enacting a variety of rough sex behaviors on a partner and their experiences having these behaviors enacted on them by a partner-both consensually and nonconsensually. They were also asked about experiences of sexual coercion (sexual acts through verbal pressure) and sexual assault (nonconsensual sexual acts). A single item assessing nonconsensual rough sex was pilot tested.

Results: Individuals with a history of sexual victimization (either sexual coercion or sexual assault) were significantly more likely to report enacting rough sex and experiencing both consensual and nonconsensual rough sex. The single item assessing nonconsensual rough sex showed utility (i.e., captured sexual victims that were missed by traditional sexual victimization items) and validity (i.e., was correlated with traditional sexual victimization items and with a multi-item measure of nonconsensual rough sex).

Conclusions: Engagement in rough sex is associated with sexual victimization history, pointing to the potential for vulnerability and exploitation within rough sex. Additionally, these results speak to the need to assess for experiences of nonconsensual rough sex, and they provide some preliminary evidence for the validity of a single item that could be added to existing victimization measures.