Sexual Violence Common Among Adolescents

Nearly one in 10 of the 14- to 21-year-olds surveyed reported perpetrating sexual violence in their lifetime, researchers found.

Of the 9% who committed some type of sexual violence, 8% engaged in forced sexual contact (kissing, touching), 3% persuaded someone to yield to their sexual demand (referred to as coercive sex), 3% attempted rape and were unsuccessful, and 2% completed rape, according to Michele L. Ybarra, MPH, PhD, of the Center for Innovative Public Health Research in San Clemente, Calif., and Kimberly J. Mitchell, PhD, of the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H.

Most often (73%), the victims were a romantic partner and 50% of perpetrators said the victim was responsible for the sexual violence. Most perpetrators also said no one had found out about the incidents, so contact with the justice system was uncommon, researchers reported in the Oct. 7 issue of JAMA Pediatrics.

Perpetrators of sexual violence tended to have more frequent exposure to sexually-charged and/or violent material on television, in music, in games, and online compared with nonperpetrators.

For example, 33% of those who attempted rape were exposed to violent and/or sexually explicit material compared with 4% of nonperpetrators.

Ybarra and Mitchell found that most young people who reported trying to force or forcing someone to have sex reported using coercive tactics, such as arguing, pressuring someone, getting angry or making someone feel guilty, more commonly than using threats or physical force.

The most common age at the first perpetration of sexual violence was 16 (40%), and males were overwhelmingly more likely to have their first episode at 15 or younger (98%) compared with females. Boys ages 16 and 17 had similarly high rates of first sexual violence (90%).

However, by ages 18 or 19, "the split of male to female perpetrators was nearly equivalent," researchers reported.

"Although I was saddened by the results of this study, I was not surprised," Emily Rothman, ScD, an associate professor in the department of community health services at Boston University School of Public Health, told MedPage Today.

"We have known for decades that the prevalence of sexual violence victimization among youth is unacceptably high, and that youth are responsible for 30% to 50% of the perpetration of childhood sexual abuse," Rothman said.

She pointed to aspects of the study that are "novel and important," and show for the first time:

Nationally representative estimates of the proportion of young people who are perpetrating sexual abuse against peers
Information that the majority of this sexual abuse (73%) is actually dating violence (the sexual coercion happens in the context of a romantic relationship)
Rothman noted the emergence of school-based prevention curricula that have demonstrated through randomized controlled trials that they can reduce the perpetration of dating and/or sexual violence.