Expanding the Sexual Experiences Survey to Include Technology Facilitated Sexual Exploitation

J Sex Res. 2024 Jul;61(6):897-903. doi: 10.1080/00224499.2023.2244939. Epub 2024 Jul 7.

Abstract

The Sexual Experiences Survey is the most widely used measure of sexual assault victimization and perpetration among college students. To improve comprehensiveness and inclusiveness, the current revision of the victimization items of the SES (SES-V; Koss et al., 2024) included the addition of a module focusing on Technology Facilitated Sexual Exploitation (TFSE). The current paper outlines why the inclusion of items related to TFSE was necessary, and describes the development of the items making up this module of the SES-V. The module consists of 10 items that map onto seven domains: receipt of sexual materials, target of unwanted sexual comments, threatened sharing of sexually explicit images, actual sharing of sexually explicit images, target of sexual solicitation, threatened sharing of images of sexual exploitation, and actual sharing of images of sexual exploitation. Consistent with how the other types of sexual exploitation are assessed in the SES-V (Koss et al., 2024), respondents indicate how many times they have experienced these events since their 14th birthday and use an 11-point response format ranging from 0 to 10 or more times per experience. The addition of the new module on TFSE to the SES-V will ensure researchers assess both in-person and cyber modalities of sexual exploitation.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Crime Victims* / psychology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Sex Offenses / psychology
  • Students / psychology
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Universities
  • Young Adult