title: Fraternity membership and sexual aggression: an examination of mediators of the association.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This prospective study examined attitudes (ie, hostility toward women, acceptance of rape myths), peer influences (ie, peer pressure to have sex, peer approval of forced sex), and risky behaviors (ie, high-risk alcohol use, number of sexual partners) as possible mediators of the association between fraternity membership and sexual aggression.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample included 424 males recruited as freshmen from a large state university in the southeastern United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Respondents completed survey measures in their first, second, and third years of enrollment at the university.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Path analyses revealed that the prospective effect of fraternity membership on sexual aggression was mediated by high-risk alcohol use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings indicate that high-risk alcohol use accounts for much of the association between fraternity membership and sexual aggression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, USA. kingree@clemson.edu
authors.forename: Jeffrey B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Kingree
authors.forename: Martie P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D001290:Attitude; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States; D014495:Universities