This study sought to extend the confluence model of sexual assault perpetration by examining attachment insecurity and depression as additional predictors of sexual aggression. Male college students (N = 193) completed an online questionnaire assessing confluence model constructs in addition to attachment and history of depression. Overall, the model fit the data well, χ2(11, 193) = 19.43, p = ns; root mean square error of approximation = .063; comparative fit index = .94. Attachment and depression demonstrated both direct and indirect relationships with perpetration severity. The results contribute to elucidating the process by which certain men become susceptible to perpetrating sexual assault. Implications are discussed.
AbbeyA.McAuslanP.RossL. T. (1998). Sexual assault perpetration by college men: The role of alcohol, misperception of sexual intent, and beliefs and experiences. Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 17, 167-195.
2.
AbbeyA.ParkhillM. R.BeShearsR.Clinton-SherrodA. M.ZawackiT. (2006). Cross-sectional predictors of sexual assault perpetration in a community sample of single African American and Caucasian men. Aggressive Behavior, 32, 54-67.
3.
AbbeyA.ParkhillM. R.Clinton-SherrodA. M.ZawackiT. (2007). A comparison of men who committed different types of sexual assault in a community sample. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 22, 1567-1580.
4.
AllenJ. P.PorterM.McFarlandC.McElhaneyK. B.MarshP. (2007). The relationship of attachment security to adolescents’ paternal and peer relationships, depression, and externalizing behavior. Child Development, 78, 1222-1239.
5.
AwadG.SaundersE.LeveneJ. (1984). A clinical study of male sex offenders. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 28, 105-115.
6.
BarnettG. D. (2011). What is grievance thinking and how can we measure this in sexual offenders?Legal and Criminological Psychology, 15, 37-61.
7.
BentlerP. M. (1990). Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 238-246.
8.
BentlerP. M.BonettD. G. (1980). Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 588-606.
9.
BirnbaumG. E.ReisH. T.MikulincerM.GillathO.OrpazA. (2006). When sex is more than just sex: Attachment orientations, sexual experiences, and relationship quality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 929-943.
10.
BollenK. A. (1989). Structural equations with latent variables. Oxford, UK: John Wiley.
11.
BrennanK. A.ShaverP. R. (1995). Dimensions of adult attachment, affect regulation, and romantic relationship functioning. Personal Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 267-283.
12.
BrowneM. W.CudeckR. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In BollenK. A.LongJ. S. (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136-162). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
13.
BurtM. R. (1980). Cultural myths and supports for rape. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 217-230.
14.
CapaldiD. M.StoolmillerM. (1999). Co-occurrence of conduct problems and depressive symptoms in early adolescent boys: III. Prediction of young adult adjustment. Development and Psychopathology, 11, 59-84.
15.
CarlsonE. A. (1998). A prospective longitudinal study of attachment disorganization/disorientation. Child Development, 69, 1107-1128.
16.
CheckJ. V.PerlmanD.MalamuthN. M. (1985). Loneliness and aggressive behavior. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2, 243-252.
17.
ChouC.BentlerP. M. (1995). Estimates and tests in structural equation modeling. In HoyleR. H. (Ed.), Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues, and applications (pp. 37-55). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
18.
DemenescuL. R.KortekaasR.BoerJ. A.AlemanA. (2010). Impaired attribution of emotion to facial expressions in anxiety and major depression. PLoS ONE, 5, 1-5.
19.
DuggalS.CarlsonE. A.SroufeL. A.EgelandB. (2001). Depressive symptomatology in childhood and adolescence. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 143-164.
20.
FeeneyJ. A.NollerP. (1990). Attachment style as a predictor of adult romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 281-291.
21.
FeeneyJ. A.NollerP.HanrahanM. (1994). Assessing adult attachment. In SperlingM.BermanW. (Eds.), Attachment in adults: Clinical and developmental perspectives (pp. 128-152). New York: Guilford Press.
22.
FergussonD.HorwoodL.LynskeyM. (1996). Childhood sexual abuse and psychiatric disorder in young adulthood: II. Psychiatric outcomes of childhood sexual abuse. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 1365-1374.
23.
FinkelhorD. (1987). The trauma of child sexual abuse: Two models. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2, 348-362.
24.
GentzlerA. M.KernsK. A. (2004). Associations between insecure attachment and sexual experiences. Personal Relationships, 11, 249-265.
25.
GillespieS. M.MitchellI. J.FisherD.BeechA. R. (2012). Treating disturbed emotional regulation in sexual offenders: The potential applications of mindful self-regulation and controlled breathing techniques. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17, 333-343.
26.
GreeneR. W.BiedermanJ.ZerwasS.MonuteauxM. C.GoringJ. C.FaraoneS. V. (2002). Psychiatric comorbitity, family dysfunction, and social impairment in referred youth with oppositional defiant disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 1214-1224.
27.
HendrickS.HendrickC. (1987). Multidimensionality of sexual attitudes. Journal of Sex Research, 23, 502-526.
28.
HoyleR. H. (1995). The structural equation modeling approach: Basic concepts and fundamental issues. In HoyleR. H. (Ed.), Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues, and application (pp. 1-15). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
29.
HudsonS. M.MarshallD. W.McDonaldE.BakkerL. W.McLeanA. (1993). Emotional recognition skills of sex offenders. Sexual Abuse, 6, 199-211.
30.
JessorR.GravesT. D.HansonR. C. (1968). Society, personality, and deviant behavior: A study of a tri-ethnic community. Oxford, UK: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
31.
JoormanJ.GotlibI. H. (2010). Emotion regulation in depression: Relation to cognitive inhibition. Cognition & Emotion, 24, 281-298.
32.
KesslerR. C.McGonagleK. A.ZhaoS.NelsonC. B.HughesM.EshlemanS.. (1994). Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General Psychology, 51, 8-19.
33.
KoflerM. J.RuggieroK. J.McCartM. R.ZajacK.SaundersB. E.KilpatrickD. G. (2011). Depression and delinquency covariation in an accelerated longitudinal sample of adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79, 458-469.
34.
KossM. P.GidyczC. A.WisniewskiN. (1987). The scope of rape: Incidence and prevalence of sexual aggression and victimization in a national sample of higher education students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 162-170.
35.
LiptonD. N.McDonelE. C.McFallR. M. (1987). Heterosocial perception in rapists. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 17-21.
36.
LohC.OrchowskiL. M.GidyczC. A.ElizagaR. A. (2007). Socialization and sexual aggression in college men: The role of observational influence in detecting risk cues. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 8, 129-144.
37.
LonswayK. A.FitzgeraldL. F. (1995). Attitudinal antecedents of rape myth acceptance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 704-711.
38.
MainM.KaplanN.CassidyJ. (1985). A move to the level of representation. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50, 66-104.
39.
MalamuthN. M.SockloskieR. J.KossM. P.TanakaJ. S. (1991). Characteristics of aggressors against women: Testing a model using a national sample of college students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 670-681.
40.
MarshallW. L. (1993). The role of attachments, intimacy, and loneliness in the etiology and maintenance of sexual offending. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 25, 73-85.
41.
MarshallW. L.HudsonS. M.HodkinsonS. (1993). The importance of attachment bonds on the development of juvenile sex offending. In BarbareeH. E.MarshallW. L.HudsonS. M. (Eds.), The juvenile sex offender (pp. 164-181). New York: Guilford Press.
42.
MathieN. L.WakelingH. C. (2011). Assessing socially desirable responding and its impact on self-report measures among sexual offenders. Psychology, Crime & Law, 17, 215-237.
43.
MuthenL.MuthenB. (2004). MPlus 3.0. Los Angeles, CA: Author.
44.
NelsonP. A. (1979). Personality, sexual function, and sexual behavior: An experiment in methodology. Dissertation Abstracts International, 39, 6134.
45.
ParkhillM. R.AbbeyA. (2008). Does alcohol contribute to the confluence model of sexual assault perpetration?Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 27, 529-554.
46.
PaulE. L.McManusB.HayesA. (2000). “Hookups”: Characteristics and correlates of college students’ spontaneous and anonymous sexual experiences. Journal of Sex Research, 37, 76-88.
47.
PersadS. M.PolivyJ. (1993). Differences between depressed and nondepressed individuals in the recognition of and response to facial emotional cues. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 3, 358-368.
48.
PielageS. B.LuteijnF.ArrindellW. A. (2005). Adult attachment, intimacy and psychological distress in a clinical and community sample. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 12, 455-464.
49.
PutnamF. W. (2003). Ten-year research update review: Child sexual abuse. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 269-278.
50.
RobertonT.DaffernM.BucksR. S. (2012). Emotion regulation and aggression. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17, 72-82.
51.
SchreiberJ. B.StageF. K.KingJ.NoraA.BarlowE. A. (2006). Reporting structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis results: A review. Journal of Education and Research, 99, 323-337.
52.
SmallboneS. W.DaddsM. R. (1998). Childhood attachment and adult attachment in incarcerated adult make sex offenders. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 13, 555-573.
53.
SurguladzeS. A.YoungA. W.SeniorC.BrebionG.TravisM. J.PhillipsM. L. (2004). Recognition accuracy and response bias to happy and sad facial expressions in patients with major depression. Neuropsychology, 18, 212-218.
54.
SurteesP. G.WainwrightN. W.BrayneC. (2000). Psychosocial etiology of chronic disease: A pragmatic approach to the assessment of lifetime affective morbidity in an EPIC component study. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 54, 114-122.
55.
TeasdaleJ. D. (1988). Cognitive vulnerability to persistent depression. Cognition & Emotion, 2, 247-274.
56.
TseW. S.BondA. J. (2004). The impact of depression on social skills. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 192, 260-268.
57.
WheelerJ. G.GeorgeW. H.DahlB. J. (2002). Sexually aggressive college males: Empathy as a moderator in the “confluence model” of sexual aggression. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 729-775.
58.
WhitmireL. E.HarlowL. L.QuinaK.MorokoffP. J. (1999). Childhood trauma and HIV: Women at risk. Philadelphia, PA: Brunner/Mazel.
59.
WilcoxR. R. (2001). Fundamentals of modern statistical methods: Substantially improving power and accuracy. New York: Springer.
60.
ZawackiT.AbbeyA.BuckP. O.McAuslanP.Clinton-SherrodA. M. (2003). Perpetrators of alcohol-involved sexual assault: How do they differ from other sexual assault perpetrators and nonperpetrators?Aggressive Behavior, 19, 366-380.
