This K01 award will allow Dr. Anderson, a licensed clinical psychologist with expertise in sexual victimization and trauma recovery, to further develop into an independent investigator proficient in the prevention and treatment of alcohol-facilitated sexual violence. Dr. Anderson has a career interest in sexual violence prevention and the development of interventions designed to reduce the risk of sexual violence. Dr. Anderson?s long-term research goal is to better understand the cognitive and behavioral mechanisms of sexual victimization and sexual perpetration to develop more effective interventions. In this research proposal, Dr. Anderson seeks to identify the temporal pattern and neurocognitive mechanisms of alcohol-facilitated sexual violence perpetration. Sexual violence, particularly rape, is one of the most harmful traumatic experiences a person can experience and is nearly endemic on college campuses: 25% of college women experience rape. Yet, there are few effective interventions to prevent and reduce the risk of sexual violence. Alcohol is involved in 75% of rapes. Alcohol-facilitated violence is associated with neurocognitive changes and emotion dysregulation. The training and research activities described in this proposal will allow Dr. Anderson to examine the complex and multiplicative influences of alcohol on sexual violence perpetration. The application proposes an intensive, 5-year program of mentored research and training activities to enhance Dr. Anderson?s skills in: 1) alcohol research methodology and interventions for problem drinking; 2) advanced quantitative methodology; 3) longitudinal research methods for violence perpetration; 4) collection and interpretation of neurocognitive data relevant to problem drinking; 5) advanced ethics for studying illegal and stimgatized behavior. In the long term, Dr. Anderson will apply these skills to study alcohol as a multifactorial mechanism of sexual violence perpetration and develop interventions that correspond to each unique role of alcohol. The research component of this career development award is a large longitudinal study designed to achieve the following aims: 1. Identify high-risk time periods for alcohol-facilitated sexual perpetration; 2. Document multivariate risk profiles for alcohol-facilitated sexual perpetration and how they vary over time; and 3. Evaluate neurocognitive factors as a mechanism of alcohol-facilitated sexual perpetration. Kent State University provides an exceptional environment for Dr. Anderson to achieve the above goals. The training plan optimizes the resources of the Department of Psychological Sciences and the unique proximity to multiple research universities nearby (Case Western Reserve, Northeast Ohio Medical) to achieve these goals. Dr. Anderson?s mentors are highly regarded scientists in the areas of alcohol-facilitated intimate partner violence, longitudinal research on sexual perpetration, quantitative methods in clinical psychology, neuropsychology, and trauma.
Sexual violence is, unfortunately, common, affecting 1 in 4 women and nearly 1 in 6 men in college. This study will be the first to identify high-risk time periods for sexual violence on college campuses and to examine how neurocognitive risk factors may promote alcohol-facilitated sexual violence perpetration. This information will be useful for designing and implementing interventions to reduce the vast negative public health impact of sexual violence.
