Introduction

Sexual violence can be defined as any abuse of power in which an individual is used for sexual gratification by inducing them to engage in sexual practices with or without physical violence (DeCS - Descriptors in Health Sciences, n.d.).

Recent publications report rates of experienced sexual violence (ESV) as high as 41.3% for women and 24.6% for men (Daff et al., 2018; Karsberg et al., 2018). Within the Spanish context where this study was conducted, equally worrying figures were found for sexual violence victimization in the young adult population, with victimization rates as high as 60.6% for women and 39.4% for men (Paíno-Quesada et al., 2020). A recent meta-analysis identified women as the main victims of sexual violence (López-Barranco et al., 2022). The results for perpetrated sexual violence (PSV) are just as concerning, with 23% of men and 18% of women having been perpetrators of sexual violence (Daff et al., 2018). Similar findings are reported for PSV in the national context of this study, with a prevalence of PSV for adolescents and young adults of between 26% for men and 9.8% for women (Muñoz-Rivas et al., 2010).

Despite these, data, studies, and instruments that address this type of violence with the aim of identifying protective factors against sexual violence are still few and far between (Javier Rodriguez-Diaz et al., 2017). In this regard, recent studies have mentioned sexting as a factor that could be related to sexual violence. This activity refers to the exchange of sexual content via technological devices (Agustina & Durán, 2016). Specifically in the Spanish context, sexting has been associated with greater cyber-sexual harassment victimization and an increase in VSS in dating relationships for both men and women, in the case of total violence victimization in relationships, the relationship between sexting and total victimization was only significant for women (Quesada et al., 2018). In the same vein, unwanted pregnancies, lower educational attainment or socioeconomic status, and excessive consumption of alcohol and other substances are associated with a higher risk of experiencing sexual violence (Norona et al., 2021; Yakubovich et al., 2018). A further variable that appears to mediate the occurrence of sexual and other forms of violence is gender equality attitudes (Miller et al., 2018). In the national context in which the study is carried out, factors related to the appearance of violence in relationships have been identified. Rubio-Garay et al. (2015) identified a series of factors related to perpetration and victimization, such as sexism, empathy, or self-esteem. Dosil et al. (2020), in a study carried out in the national context, identified that men exercised more violence than women, and hostile sexism scores related to perpetration were significantly higher in men.

Finally, sexual assertiveness (SA) seems to play a role in both perpetrated and experienced sexual violence (Brassard et al., 2015; Gil-Llario et al., 2021; Krahé & Berger, 2017).

SA is understood as a person’s ability to firmly communicate their sexual desires, thoughts, opinions, or preferences, while upholding the basic right and freedom of individuals to make sense of and engage in their own sexual activity (Gil-Llario et al., 2021). These new findings underscore the importance of examining SA as a possible protective factor against relationship violence, and it is worth further investigating the relationship between sexual violence and sexual assertiveness skills and levels in the population. Gil-Llario et al. (2021) in their research describe assertiveness as a possible factor related to the occurrence of sexual violence. An excess or deficiency of this could mediate the appearance of sexual violence. Gil-Llario et al. (2021) identified that dimensions of sexual assertiveness related to hostile behaviors during sexual interactions were more present in men (Gil-Llario et al., 2021).

There are several instruments available that can measure SA. Most of the tools developed so far have a number of important limitations, such as the use of terminology and contexts that are not well suited to the current social situation. We also find that many focus only on SA levels among women (Loshek & Terrell, 2015; Quina et al., 2000).

One recently developed instrument is the Assertiveness in Sexual Relationships Questionnaire (ASRQ) (Gil-Llario et al., 2021). This questionnaire makes it possible to measure SA levels in both men and women, taking into account the different types of sexual relationships and social contexts that can occur nowadays. The relevance of the research lies in the use of an instrument capable of identifying different dimensions of sexual assertiveness and its relationship with the perpetration and victimization of sexual violence. The ASRQ makes it possible to adapt the dimensions of assertiveness to the current relationships of the young population, measuring both the male and female population. The ASRQ is a newly created instrument whose study population is located in the Spanish national context in which the research is carried out.

Present Study

Bearing in mind the context and the importance of develo** research that analyzes the relationship between sexual violence and levels of SA, we formulated the following research question: Is there a relationship between sexual violence and the different assertive behaviors? Based on this research question, the following objectives were established:

  • Primary Objective

  • To examine the influence of sexual assertiveness on experienced and perpetrated sexual violence in a Spanish university population of young adults.

  • Secondary Objectives

  • To determine the degree of sexual assertiveness as a function of the sex of the participants in a Spanish university population of young adults.

  • To analyze experienced and perpetrated sexual violence according to the sex of the participants in a Spanish university population of young adults.

Methodology

Design and Procedure

A cross-sectional, correlational design was used in this study.

We used a survey that included questions about the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, as well as the degree of sexual assertiveness and the sexual violence experienced and perpetrated. The survey was sent via the University of Murcia’s virtual tool “Encuestas UMU,” the link to which was shared through the University of Murcia’s institutional email with the University of León and the Polytechnic University of Cartagena. The data collection period was between February 7, 2022, and August 9, 2022.

The national and international guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, the European Data Protection Regulation, and Law 3/2018 on the Protection of Personal Data and Guarantee of Digital Rights were followed (Berruezo, 2004; España, 2018). The research was approved by the University of Murcia’s Ethics Committee (ID: 3680/2021). Previously to completing the questionnaire and granting informed consent, they were presented with a summary of the central study topic; they were informed of the university body in charge of said research, the average response time, and that all the data obtained would be used anonymously. Participants received the instructions provided in the original instruments.

The participants were of legal age and offered their informed consent online before starting the questionnaire and after having previously read the informative message. The completion of the questionnaire was completely anonymous. They were given the email address of one of the researchers so they could get in touch if they wanted to.

Participants and Sample Size

To identify young adults, we followed DeCS and MeSH definitions, which define a young adult as a person between 19 and 24 years of age (DeCS server—List terms, n.d.; MeSH—NCBI, 2016). The sampling procedure was non-probabilistic and purposive. Prior to sample selection, the required sample size was calculated using the EPIDAT 4.2 program. The sample size with a confidence interval of 95% and a margin of error of 5% was n = 380. (Caycho-Rodríguez, 2020; EPIDAT—Consellería de Sanidade—Servizo Galego de Saúde, 2021).

Study participants had to meet the following inclusion criteria: be young adults enrolled in the universities participating in the study (University of Murcia, University of León, and Polytechnic University of Cartagena), have or have had an intimate or dating relationship, and agree to participate anonymously in the research.

A total of n = 792 people answered the questionnaire, 134 participants were eliminated for not completing the questionnaire in its entirety, and 185 people were excluded for not meeting the inclusion criteria. The final sample consisted of n = 473 young adult university students.

Measurements and Instruments

Experienced and Perpetrated Sexual Violence

The Dating Violence Questionnaire for Victimization and Perpetration (DVQ-VP) was used to identify sexual violence (Rodríguez-Franco et al., 2022). This questionnaire is derived from the latest update and revision of the DVQ-R questionnaire (Javier Rodriguez-Diaz et al., 2017). The DVQ-VP originally focused only on identifying experienced violence. In the last year, however, the latest revision of this instrument has been published, making the case for and demonstrating how to correctly use this tool to also identify perpetrated violence in intimate partner relationships. The DVQ-VP identifies five different types of perpetrated and experienced violence: physical violence, sexual violence, humiliation, detachment, and coercion. Given our objectives, we will use the dimension corresponding to experienced sexual violence and perpetrated sexual violence, comprising items 2, 6, 14, and 18. Response options allow for a frequency-based severity rating of 0 = never, 1 = sometimes, and 2 = often. Before using the questionnaire, we contacted the lead author of the DVQ-VP validation to learn how to correctly apply the latest update. Cronbach’s alpha (α) indices for the DVQ-VP were as follows: ESV, α = .73 and PSV, α = .92. The reliabilities observed for the instruments used are similar to those of the original studies: DVQ-VP original: ESV, ω = .91 and PSV, ω = .92. (Rodríguez-Franco et al., 2022).

Sexual Assertiveness

Sexual assertiveness was measured using the Assertiveness in Sexual Relations Questionnaire (ASRQ). The ASRQ consists of 24 items grouped into four different factors. Assertive behavior as initiative (ABI) is made up of items 1, 3, 9, and 12, and shows people’s ability to assertively express their requests and preferences, while always taking into account the position of the other person involved. Sub-assertive behavior (SAB) is made up of items 2, 4, 6, and 8 and refers to the use of passive responses when engaging in sexual practices. Overly assertive behavior as initiative (OABI) is comprised of items 7, 11, 14, 16, 18, 22, 23, and 24. This factor identifies hostile requests or impositions by the person being surveyed during the performance of sexual practices without taking into consideration the inclinations and desires of the other person. Finally, Assertive behavior as a response (ABR) is composed of items 5, 10, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, and 21. This last factor analyzes people’s ability to respond firmly to requests of a sexual nature and to assertively reject those that do not interest them. ASRQ responses are based on a 4-option Likert-type survey ranging from 0 = never, 1 = sometimes, 2 = almost always, and 3 = always. It has been validated and developed in the Spanish context for a population between 18 and 69 years of age (Gil-Llario et al., 2021). Cronbach’s alpha (α) indices for the study sample were as follows: ABI, α = .66; SAB, α = .60; OABI, α = .91; and ABR, α = .61. The reliabilities observed for the instruments used are similar to those of the original studies: ASRQ original: ABI, α =.72; SAB, α = .76; OABI, α = .87; and ABR, α = .83 (Gil-Llario et al., 2021).

Sociodemographic Variables

Participants were asked about their age, sex, the university in which they were enrolled, whether they were or had previously been in a relationship, and their sexual orientation.

Data Analysis

Analyses were performed using SPSS v 28.0 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Cronbach’s alpha (α) values were determined for each of the instruments used. The Kolmogorov–Smirnov (K-S) test was applied to both the whole sample and the sample segmented by sex to check whether the study variables followed a normal distribution. Frequencies (%), medians (Me), means (M), standard deviations (SD), and interquartile range (IQR) were used for the descriptive analyses. The total percentage of men and women who experienced and perpetrated sexual violence was dichotomized into 0 = has never experienced or perpetrated violence and 1 = has experienced or perpetrated violence.

As the study variables did not follow a normal distribution using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test (p < .001), non-parametric tests were used in the analyses. To examine quantitative variables as a function of sex as a categorical variable, the non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test (U) was used, and the effect size was calculated using the probability of superiority (PSest) (Ventura-León et al., 2016). The association between variables was analyzed using Spearman’s bilateral correlation coefficient (Rho). A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to investigate the influence of different assertive behaviors on experienced and perpetrated sexual violence. In order to test the validity of the model, analyses of residuals and collinearity were performed and found that the assumptions of the linear regression model were satisfied. Results were considered statistically significant with a 95% confidence interval (p < .05).

Results

Sample Distribution

Of the 473 participants, 65.5% were women and 34.5% were men. The mean age of the participants was 21.3 years SD = 1.6. The sample’s sociodemographic data are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Sociodemographic information
Full size table

Sexual Assertiveness as a Function of Sex

The distribution of the total ASRQ score between men and women was significantly different, with higher scores in men than in women (U (95% CI) = 20,087.0; p < .001; PSest = .40). ABI varied significantly between men and women, being higher in men (U (95% CI) = 21,736.5; p < .05; PSest = .43). No differences were found for SAB (U (95% CI) = 24,631.5; p = .648; PSest =.49). Significant differences were identified for OABI, being higher in men than in women (U (95% CI) = 15,310.5; p < .001; PSest = .30). In the case of ABR, significant differences were observed between men and women, with a higher distribution in the group of women (U (95% CI) = 20,806.5; p < .05; PSest = .41).

Sexual Violence Experienced and Perpetrated on the Basis of Sex

Of the total number of participants, 56.2% (51.7–60.7%) indicated that they had not experienced sexual violence, compared to 43.8% (39.3–48.3%) who said that they had. In terms of PSV, 21.1% (17.6–25.0%) stated that they had performed an act of sexual violence, while 78.9% (75.0–82.4%) of the sample stated that they had not.

No significant differences between men and women were identified for ESV. (U (95% CI) = 22,939.0; p = .067; PSest = .45). Significant differences were found between the groups for PSV, with higher levels of perpetration among men (U (95% CI) = 14,733.50; p < .001; PSest = .29).

Table 2 shows the median values and interquartile ranges for the different types of assertive behaviors and sexual violence on the basis of sex.

Table 2 Assertive behavior and sex-based sexual violence
Full size table

Correlation between Experienced Sexual Violence and Assertive Behavior

For the whole sample, there are significant positive associations of ESV with SAB (Rho = .288; p < .001) and OABI (Rho =.158; p < .001). The analysis also shows an inverse association with ABR (Rho =  −.285; p < .001).

An in-depth analysis of the correlations segmented by sex was then carried out, revealing different results for men and women. In men, there was a positive association of ESV with ABI (Rho = .242; p = .002) and OABI (Rho = .295; p < .001). Meanwhile, in the group of women, there was an inverse association between ESV and ABI (Rho =  −.274; p < .001), as was the case with ABR (Rho =  −.376; p < .001). Only in the group of women was there a positive association with SAB (Rho = .417; p < .001).

Correlation Between Perpetrated Sexual Violence and Assertive Behavior

For the whole sample, there were significant positive relationships between PSV and ABI (Rho = .312; p < .001) and OABI (Rho = .603; p < .001). An in-depth analysis of the correlations segmented by sex was carried out. For the group of men, positive significant associations were identified for ABI (Rho = .645; p < .001), OABI (Rho = .837; p < .001) and ABR (Rho = .307; p < .001). SAB was significantly inversely correlated (Rho =  −.256; p < .001). For the group of women, a significant positive association was identified for OABI (Rho = .247; p < .001).

Table 3 presents the correlation matrix for perpetrated and experienced sexual violence and the different types of assertive behavior.

Table 3 Correlation between experienced and perpetrated sexual violence and assertive behavior
Full size table

Influence of Assertive Behavior on Perpetrated and Experienced Sexual Violence

Multiple linear regression analysis provided the following models for the study variables. For ESV (Table 4) in the men’s group, the model explained 13.9% of the variance (R2 = .139). The t test showed a significant association (p < .05) in all variables included in the model. The standardized Beta coefficients indicated that the OABI variable had the greatest weight within the model, establishing a significantly positive relationship between this behavior and ESV. ABR was the variable with the second greatest weight within the model, presenting a significantly inverse relationship between ABR and ESV. Lastly, the variable with the least weight in the model was SAB, with a significantly positive relationship between SAB and ESV.

Table 4 Multiple regression models for experienced sexual violence
Full size table

For the group of women, the model explained 30.2% (R2 = .320) of the variance in ESV. The standardized Beta coefficients showed that ABR was the variable with the greatest weight within the model, identifying a significantly inverse relationship between ABR and ESV. A significantly positive relationship was established for SAB and ESV within the model. For both variables, the t test was significant (p < .001).

In terms of PSV (Table 5), for the group of men, the model explained 80.1% of the variance (R2 = .801). In the women’s group, the model explained 6.8% of the variance in PSV (R2 = .068). For both groups, the standardized Beta coefficients found OABI to be the only variable significantly related to PSV within the model, and the t test established a significant association between perpetrated sexual violence and OABI for both men and women (p < .001).

Table 5 Multiple regression models of perpetrated sexual violence
Full size table

Discussion

We have identified the dependency relationships existing between the different assertive behaviors and perpetrated and experienced sexual violence in both men and women, contributing not only individual data for each group, but also hel** us to understand where the two groups converge, thus achieving the main objective of the research. We present the results relating to the secondary objectives, showing the distribution of assertive behaviors and sexual violence for each group analyzed. It is worth highlighting the high prevalence of ESV in both sexes and of PSV mainly in men.

One of the most alarming findings is the high prevalence of ESV in the sample; nearly half of the young adults surveyed confirmed having experienced some form of sexual violence. The high prevalence of sexual violence victimization has been replicated in several studies analyzing samples similar to this one (Courtain & Glowacz, 2018; Daff et al., 2018). No significant differences were found for sexual violence victimization on the basis of sex. These findings are in line with similar studies (Paíno-Quesada et al., 2020; Taylor & ** affective-sexual education programs for young people. Furthermore, identifying the variables influencing both victimization and perpetration allows us to intervene not only in the general population, but also to directly tackle sexual violence in the victims and perpetrators themselves, promoting an increase or decrease in a number of behaviors that influence the amelioration of sexual violence among the young adult population.

The results provide a vision of the problem that continues to be sexual violence in the Spanish young adult population. It delves into the relationship between the different dimensions of sexual assertiveness and the sexual violence exerted and suffered, taking into account the current context of intimate relationships and identifying this relationship with the most up-to-date tools in the identification of this problem.

Future Lines of Research

Advances in the analysis of sexual violence and its relationship to assertive skills in the population using the ASRQ instrument will provide further evidence with which to compare the results obtained so far. Another line of interest could be the development of longitudinal research aimed at a pre-post intervention evaluation based on the promotion of assertive skills in a sample of young people. This could be done to determine whether the promotion of certain assertive behaviors has an impact on sexual violence in practice.

Policy Implications

The findings pave the way for the development of affective-sexual intervention programs that integrate the promotion of different assertive skills with a view to develo** an evidence-based approach to sexual violence, coordinating the efforts of multidisciplinary teams at the university level with the aim of being able to act and improve levels of sexual violence and analyzing the impact of this type of program over time. The results enable us to intervene with both perpetrators and victims, develo** protective measures against sexual violence.