Predicting self-protection against sexual assault in dating relationships among heterosexual men and women, gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals

To measure self-protective behavior on dates, the Dating Self-Protection Against Rape Scale (DSPARS) was developed. The relationship among previous sexual victimization, self-perceived risk for sexual assault, rape awareness education, gender of dating partner and DSPARS scores was assessed among 152 college students. Forty-two percent of the sample was male (mean age 21.08 years) and 58% was female (mean age 20.30 years). The participants were predominantly White (74%), with the remainder of the sample identifying as Latino (7%), Asian (7%), Black (5%), or other (3%). Sixty-eight percent of the sample self-identified as heterosexual, 10% as lesbian, 15% as gay, 5% as bisexual and 2% did not indicate their sexual orientation.