Sexual Coercion Experience and Sexually Coercive Behavior: A Population Study of Swedish and Norwegian Male Youth

Abstract

The authors tested the hypothesis that experiencing sexual coercion and engaging in sexually coercive behavior are positively associated in a representative sample totaling almost 4,000 Swedish or Norwegian male high school students (estimated response rate 80%). In both surveys, youths who had experienced sexual coercion were approximately three times more likely to engage in sexually coercive behavior than those without such experience (10%—12% vs. 4%). The association between sexual coercion experience and sexually coercive behavior was attenuated but remained significant and moderately strong in both surveys when controlling for nonsexual antisocial behavior, substance use, and noncoercive sexual behavior in multivariate logistic regression models. The population attributable fraction (proportion of sexually coercive behavior that can be explained by sexual coercion experience) was 18%—25%. The findings support a robust link between having been sexually coerced and engaging in coercive sexual behavior in the general population.