Predictors of Sexual Victimization Among Autistic and Non-Autistic College Students

The first aim of the current study was to examine whether autistic college students were more likely than non-autistic students to experience unwanted sexual contact and sexual assault, controlling for co-occurring diagnoses. We found that when controlling for co-occurring diagnoses, autistic students were not more likely than non-autistic students to experience unwanted sexual contact or sexual assault. The second aim of the study was to examine whether students with other disabilities, specifically ADHD, LD, and psychological disorders, were more likely than students without these disabilities to experience unwanted sexual contact and sexual assault. Regardless of autism diagnostic status, students with ADHD were more likely to have experienced unwanted sexual contact and sexual assault than students without ADHD. Our secondary models revealed that students who had ADHD and one or more co-occurring diagnosis were as likely as students with ADHD only to have experienced sexual victimization. These findings support prior research demonstrating that undergraduate students with ADHD experience higher rates of sexual victimization than students without ADHD (Snyder, 2015; Wymbs & Gidycz, 2021).

Autistic and non-autistic students in the current study reported similar levels of unwanted sexual contact (n = 44 vs. n = 34, respectively) and sexual assault (n = 21 vs. n = 24, respectively), controlling for co-occurring diagnoses. As previously discussed, autistic adults often have co-occurring diagnoses, such as ADHD, that are associated with increased risk of sexual victimization (Hollingdale et al., 2020; Lai et al., 2019; Wymbs and Gidycz, 2021). This may explain the inconsistent findings of the current study and those of Brown et al. (2017). Brown et al. (2017) found higher rates of sexual victimization among autistic students compared to students without disabilities, but the researchers did not control for co-occurring diagnoses that may have increased autistic students’ risk of sexual victimization. While Rothman et al. (2021) found similar rates of sexual victimization between autistic and non-autistic students, the researchers did not control for co-occurring diagnoses in the autistic group or for the presence of other disabilities in the non-autistic group. The two groups therefore may have had similar rates of psychiatric conditions that are associated with increased risk of sexual victimization. Autistic and non-autistic students with disabilities have been shown to report similar levels of sexual victimization (Brown et al., 2017). The current study found that ADHD, in particular, is associated with increased risk of sexual victimization among autistic and non-autistic college students.

Although increased risk of unwanted sexual contact and sexual assault was not observed among autistic students in the present sample, autistic adults may have difficulty identifying abusive behaviors from romantic and sexual partners (Fardella et al., 2018; Sedgewick et al., 2019). In a study by Sedgewick et al. (2019), several autistic women explained that they tended to assume “the best of people” (p. 118) and had experienced domestic abuse or sexual victimization repeatedly because “there’s that whole ulterior motive thing that I end up missing” (p. 118). An autistic participant in a study by Fardella et al. (2018) also reported, “If I am bullied, or taken advantage of… the person gets to do it for a while because it takes me a long time to realize what they are doing… it takes me a while to make the connection that they are behaving in a way that somewhere in my brain is saying to me is ‘unsafe’” (p. 1467). Autistic students who experience sexual victimization may therefore underreport these occurrences if they are unable to detect abusive behaviors in relationships. It is also important to note increased risk of other sources of interpersonal trauma experienced by autistic college students. Specifically, autistic college students report higher rates of other forms of interpersonal victimization, including emotional and physical victimization, compared to their non-autistic peers (Rothman et al., 2021).

The current study highlights the importance of individual-level and contextual factors that may reduce sexual victimization among college students with disabilities. As previously discussed, students with disabilities often experience structural inequalities in their interpersonal relationships (Roulstone et al., 2011; Forster & Pearson, 2020; Pearson et al., 2022a, b). Autistic adults have expressed the importance of having relationships with people they can trust and turn to for support and protection (Fardella et al., 2018). Prior research has also found that faculty support (Kim et al., 2022) and sense of belonging to the campus community (Rothman et al., 2021) are protective factors against interpersonal victimization among autistic and non-autistic college students. However, college faculty often have limited knowledge of neurodevelopmental disabilities and lack confidence in their abilities to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities (Sniatecki et al., 2015; Zeedyk et al., 2019). Autistic students also report a lower sense of belonging in college compared to non-autistic students (Rothman et al., 2021). These findings highlight the need for greater awareness and acceptance of neurodiversity on college campuses, faculty training on ways to support the needs of students with disabilities, and campus climates that focus on the prevention of sexual violence (Strout et al., 2014).

Students with disabilities may further benefit from resources and supports that teach them how to identify safe versus unsafe behaviors from sexual partners (Fardella et al., 2018). In a study by Fardella et al. (2018), an autistic participant reported, “When teaching about sexual violence you could say ‘Keep an eye out for this, these are risk factors, these are things you want to avoid’. These things may be obvious to a neurotypical person but might not be obvious to someone with ASD” (p. 1468). Knowledge of sexual health has also been shown to be negatively associated with sexual victimization among autistic adults (Brown-Lavoie et al., 2014). Autistic adults demonstrate lower levels of sexual knowledge than non-autistic adults (Brown-Lavoie et al., 2014), and adolescents and adults with ADHD tend to engage in riskier sexual behaviors than those without ADHD, including earlier initiation of sexual activity and more sexual partners (Donahue et al., 2013; Flory et al., 2006; Rokeach & Wiener, 2018). Education on sexual health and safe sex practices, including consent, may therefore further benefit students with disabilities given the structural inequalities that perpetuate sexual violence. Finally, institutional prevention programs and supports for survivors of sexual violence should be tailored to the specific needs of students with disabilities (Bonomi et al., 2018). Among survivors of intimate partner violence, those with disabilities are more likely than those without disabilities to experience internal and external depression, stress, and self-harm behaviors (Scherer et al., 2013, 2016). Prior research further indicates that autistic adults may be at heightened risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after experiencing trauma (Haruvi-Lamden et al., 2018; 2020; Rumball et al., 2020). Targeted supports for college students who experience sexual violence should therefore account for the differential impact of interpersonal trauma on students with disabilities.