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ABSTRACT
This report summarizes the experience of 61 female adolescents recruited through a private adolescent family planning clinic, and 183 9th through 12thgrade adolescents recruited from a private suburban high school regarding their experiences with dating relationships, sexual communication skills, and psychological status. The samples were predominantly white and middle to upper income. Perceptions of interpersonal communication skills were analyzed according to gender, clinic versus school, and history of sexual coercion. The adolescents were generally confident that they could assert their own preferences and stand up to others regarding sexual issues with the exception of the small group of high school males reporting having had experienced sexual coercion. This group (N = 20) expressed difficulty in talking to their partners about safer sex, getting their partner(s) to listen to them, or turning down alcohol or drugs prior to having sex. These boys were also more likely to report missing classes or having other kinds of trouble with school, to be concerned about use of alcohol and drugs, and about feeling unpopular. None of the female groups had this profile of communication and emotional problems. Implications for preventive education programming on interpersonal skills and sexuality are considered.
Sexual coercion (the act of forcing, pressuring, or tricking persons into a sexual act against their will) is now known to be a common occurrence. An estimated 40% of girls are sexually coerced during childhood, almost half of women in college and in the workplace experience sexual harassment, and 25% of women are rape victims (Benson, Charlton, & Goodhart, 1992; Davis, Peck, & Storment, 1993; Tanzman, 1992). These data are derived from surveys, interviews, and crime statistics for young adults and older women.
Coercive sexual experiences are not, of course, confined to women. Although less frequently discussed, men may be forced to do things sexually against their will. For male adolescents, the percentage of boys reporting unwanted sexual activity range from 11 to 15% (Davis, Peck, & Storment, 1993; Erickson & Rapkin, 1991). College age men report higher rates of experience with sexual coercion (34%) possibly as a function of having had more time in which to be subjected to unwanted sexual activity (Struckman & Struckman, 1994).
For both sexes, the evidence points to negative short- and...