Childhood Trauma and College Sexual Harassment

Childhood trauma has been identified as a risk factor for future revictimization, especially in young adulthood. There is an established link between childhood victimization and later sexual assault, but it is unclear if childhood trauma is associated with sexual harassment. Related research has examined coping and resilience as buffers, or moderators, against negative outcomes associated with childhood victimization and sexual assault, so the buffering effect of these variables will be explored for sexual harassment as well. In a sample of 583 young adults age 18–25, self-report measures of childhood trauma, sexual harassment, coping, and resilience, were collected via an online survey tool. Results of a path analysis suggest that, in general, childhood trauma places young adults at a risk for sexual harassment. Resiliency did not moderate the association between childhood trauma and sexual harassment in young adulthood, but coping did moderate this association. Specifically, when coping was high, trauma and sexual harassment were negatively related, but when coping was low to moderate, trauma and sexual harassment were positively related.