Alcohol's Role in Sexual Assault: Development of Virtual Reality Simulation Proxy

描述（由申请人提供）：大约一半的性侵犯涉及犯罪者，受害者或两者的酒精消费。拟议研究的目标是开发一种虚拟现实模拟，可用作酒精管理研究中实施性侵犯的代理。对受害者和肇事者进行的自我报告调查提供了大量关于酒精在性侵犯中的作用的重要信息;然而，因果关系不能从相关设计中建立。在酒精管理研究中，参与者可以被随机分配到饮酒条件，从而可以得出因果关系的结论。实验主义者面临的主要挑战是开发具有较强结构效度和实验现实性的性侵犯代理。虚拟现实环境为参与者提供了沉浸在模拟环境中的机会;因此，参与者的行为方式和选择与他们在实验室外的行为密切相关。拟议的研究的具体目标涉及开发一个虚拟现实模拟与虚拟女性（具体的女性代理），男性参与者评价为现实和参与。互动的脚本 将遵循一个典型的熟人性侵犯的情况下，允许男性参与者作出选择的性活动，他们想从事和（如果他们选择）反复尝试，使女性代理人从事性活动，尽管她的抗议。大多数参与者将是年轻、单身、性活跃、异性恋的男性，以符合大多数犯罪者的人口统计数据。将与男性和女性进行焦点小组和一系列迭代的试点，包括认知访谈，以开发模拟。然后，通过比较过去性侵犯的自我报告，常见的风险因素，以及对另一个代理的反应与参与者在模拟过程中的反应，对结构效度进行初步评估。此外，模拟的酒精管理研究的有用性的初步评估将进行比较醉酒和清醒的参与者在模拟过程中的反应和行动。这项研究的结果将作为R 01提案的试点数据，该提案将正式评估该范式在识别醉酒时易犯性侵犯的男性方面的结构有效性和实用性。未来的研究还可以改变模拟的各个方面，以增加对不同人群的通用性。长期目标是制定预防和治疗干预措施，从而降低性侵犯率，实现2020年健康人目标。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Approximately half of all sexual assaults involve alcohol consumption by the perpetrator, victim, or both. The goal of the proposed research is to develop a virtual reality simulation that can be used as a proxy for perpetration of sexual aggression in alcohol administration studies. Self-report surveys conducted with victims and perpetrators have provided a wealth of important information about alcohol's role in sexual assault; however, causality cannot be established from correlational designs. In alcohol administration studies, participants can be randomly assigned to drink conditions, thereby allowing causal conclusions to be made. The major challenge for experimentalists is to develop proxies for sexual assault that have strong construct validity and experimental realism. Virtual reality environments provide the opportunity for participants to become immersed in the simulated environment; thus, participants are expected to behave in ways and to make choices that closely relate to their behavior outside the laboratory. The Specific Aims of the proposed research involve developing a virtual reality simulation with a virtual woman (an embodied female agent) that male participants rate as realistic and involving. The script of the interaction will follow that of a prototypic acquaintance sexual assault situation, allowing male participants to make choices about sexual activities in which they want to engage and (if they choose) to repeatedly try to make the female agent engage in sexual activity despite her protests. Most participants will be young, single, sexually active, heterosexual men to correspond to the demographics of most perpetrators. Focus groups and an iterative series of pilots that include cognitive interviews will be conducted with men and women to develop the simulation. Then a preliminary assessment of construct validity will be conducted by comparing self-reports of past sexual aggression, common risk factors, and responses to another proxy with participants' responses during the simulation. Also, an initial evaluation of the simulation's usefulness in alcohol administration research will be conducted by comparing the responses and actions of intoxicated and sober participants during the simulation. The findings from this study will serve as pilot data for a R01 proposal that will formally evaluate the paradigm's construct validity and usefulness in identifying men predisposed to commit sexual assault while intoxicated. Future studies can also alter various aspects of the simulation to increase generalizability to different populations. The long-term goal is to develop prevention and treatment interventions, thereby reducing rates of sexual aggression and addressing Healthy People 2020 goals.