title: Assault related substance use as a predictor of substance use over time within a sample of recent victims of sexual assault.
abstract: Substance use at time of assault is reported by a significant subgroup of rape victims. This study examined: (1) prevalence of assault related marijuana or alcohol use among women seeking post-rape medical care; (2) sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive power associated with reported use at time of assault in association with use in 6 weeks pre-assault, post-assault use, and post-assault abuse; and (3) trajectories of use and abuse over time as a function of use in 6 weeks pre-assault/assault time frame use, exposure to brief intervention, and interaction of pre-assault/assault time frame use with intervention. Participants were 268 women seeking post-sexual assault medical services completing one or more follow-up assessment at: (1) <3 months post-assault; (2) 3 to 6 months post-assault; and (3) 6 months or longer post-assault. Use of alcohol or marijuana at time of assault was a fairly sensitive and specific indicator respectively, of reported use of specific substance in the 6 weeks preceding assault and use or abuse at follow-up. Growth modeling revealed that use of alcohol or marijuana at the time of the assault or in the 6 weeks prior to assault predicted higher Time 1 follow-up alcohol and marijuana use and abuse. Although there was relatively little change in use or abuse over time, alcohol use at time of the assault or in the 6 weeks prior also predicted a steeper decline in alcohol use over the course of follow-up. Interestingly, women who reported using marijuana at the time of the assault or in the 6 weeks prior who also received a video intervention actually had lower initial marijuana use, a pattern that remained stable over time. Implications for evaluating screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment services among sexual assault victims seeking post-assault medical care are discussed.
authors.affiliation: National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States. resnickh@musc.edu
authors.forename: Heidi S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Resnick
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Jenna L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: McCauley
authors.forename: Julie A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Schumacher
authors.forename: Dean G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Kilpatrick
authors.forename: Ron E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Acierno
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011902:Rape / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology