Common Acts of Sexual Harassment and Aggression in Drinking Environments Scale (C-SHADE)

Abstract

The Common Acts of Sexual Harassment and Aggression in Drinking Environments Scale (C-SHADE), developed by Graham et al. (2023), is a specialized psychometric instrument designed to quantify the perpetration of sexual aggression (SA) by men targeting women within public drinking environments, such as bars and clubs. This 10-item scale is considered a vital tool for evaluating the efficacy of preventative interventions aimed at reducing SA prevalence in these high-risk settings.

The scale’s development was grounded in rigorous empirical data, drawing items from detailed researcher observations of common real-life SA incidents in barrooms, accounts provided by female targets, and comprehensive reviews of the broader academic literature. The C-SHADE was specifically constructed to cover the full spectrum of common aggressive acts, including instances involving physical contact, non-contact harassment, and aggressive persistence following explicit refusal. Validation employed a sample of self-identified young adult men (ages 19–25) residing in Canada. Factor analysis confirmed a robust, unidimensional structure for the 10 items, demonstrating strong reliability and validity findings.

Keywords

Drinking Environments, Sexual Aggression Perpetration, Sexual Harassment, Aggressive Behavior, Antisocial Behavior, Male Female Interaction, Physical Contact, Perpetrators, Social Drinking, Psychometric Measures.

Authors

Kathryn Graham, Sharon Bernards, Antonia Abbey, Charlene Senn, Tara M. Dumas, AnnaLise Trudell, Peter D. Donnelly, Samantha Wells.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the C-SHADE scale is to provide a standardized, empirically derived measure for assessing the frequency and nature of common sexually aggressive behaviors committed by men against women specifically within high-risk social settings, such as bars, clubs, and other drinking environments.

This tool is essential for researchers and practitioners involved in prevention science, serving as a reliable outcome measure for evaluating the effectiveness of intervention programs designed to mitigate male perpetration of sexual aggression (SA) in contexts where alcohol use is prevalent.

Construct

The C-SHADE measures the psychological construct of common sexual harassment and low-to-moderate severity sexual aggression (SA) perpetration. The specific focus is on behaviors occurring in public social settings characterized by alcohol consumption, particularly bars and clubs, which are known venues for these types of interactions.

A central element of the measured construct is the inclusion of behaviors directed towards targets who are strangers, emphasizing acts where the perpetrator may be unaware of or disregard the target’s lack of consent. The scale captures a behavioral continuum ranging from unwanted non-contact harassment to persistent physical advances after refusal, ensuring a comprehensive assessment of common SA acts.

Validity

The validation study provided robust empirical evidence supporting both the convergent and discriminant validity of the C-SHADE scale.

Convergent Validity: Convergent validity was established through significant positive correlations between C-SHADE scores and other measures known to be related to SA perpetration. These related constructs included peer sexual aggression, attitudes supportive of SA, heightened expectations regarding the effects of alcohol on sexual behavior, and self-reported heavier alcohol consumption. However, the analysis notably failed to replicate prior research findings concerning a positive relationship between the frequency of visiting bars and SA perpetration (Testa & Cleveland, 2017).

Discriminant Validity: Support for discriminant validity was demonstrated by comparing participants who scored positive solely on the C-SHADE with those who also scored positive on the General Sexual Aggression—Modified Sexual Experiences Survey (M-SES; Koss et al., 2007). This distinction helps confirm that the C-SHADE measures a distinct aspect of sexual aggression specific to drinking environments, separate from more general measures of SA.

Reliability

The C-SHADE demonstrated high levels of internal consistency, confirming the reliability of the 10-item instrument.

Internal Consistency: Reliability analysis using Cronbach’s alpha yielded a coefficient of .96. This exceptionally high value suggests that the 10 scale items are highly interrelated and consistently measure the same underlying construct of sexual aggression perpetration in drinking environments.

Factor Analysis

The structural integrity of the C-SHADE was rigorously assessed using factor analysis on the 10 scale items. The results provided strong support for a unidimensional structure.

The analysis confirmed that the scale is best represented by a single underlying factor, which successfully accounted for 75% of the total variance observed within the measure. This single-factor structure solidifies the scale’s utility in measuring a cohesive construct of common sexual aggression acts in drinking settings.

Instrument

Test Type: Original Rating Scale

Format: Participants are instructed to “Think about times when you were at a bar or club in the 6 months prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. How often have you done anything like what the guy(s) did in each of the following? In all descriptions, both the guy(s) and the girl in their early 20s are at a bar or club and they do not know each other.” They are then presented with a list of sexually aggressive behaviors. Response options utilize a 5-point Likert-type scale: 5-very often, 4-fairly often, 3-occasionally, 2-rarely, 1-never. The instrument consists of 10 items and is administered electronically.

Language Available: English

Population Group: Human, Male

Age Group: Adulthood (18 years & older), Young Adulthood (18-29 years)

Population Details: The validation sample consisted of young adult men, aged 19 to 25 years, residing in Canada. Participants were required to have visited a bar within the six months preceding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Test Methodology: Test Validity, Convergent Validity, Discriminant Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Factor Analysis.

Keywords

Drinking Environments, Male Female Interaction, Physical Contact, Sexual Aggression Perpetration, Sexual Harassment.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier:

• Graham, Kathryn: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3318-3598

• Abbey, Antonia: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5448-4659

Affiliation Email addresses:

• Graham, Kathryn: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Institute for Mental Health Policy Research

• Bernards, Sharon: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Institute for Mental Health Policy Research

• Abbey, Antonia: Wayne State University, Department of Psychology

• Senn, Charlene: University of Windsor, Department of Psychology/Women’s & Gender Studies

• Dumas, Tara M.: Huron University, Department of Psychology

• Trudell, AnnaLise: Anova

• Donnelly, Peter D.: University of Toronto, Dalla Lana School of Public Health

• Wells, Samantha: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Institute for Mental Health Policy Research

Correspondence Address:

Graham, Kathryn: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Suite 200, 100 Collip Circle, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 4X8, [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: Contact Corresponding Author

Commercial: No

Fee: No

Test Year: 2023

Reference’s

Graham, K., Bernards, S., Abbey, A., Senn, C., Dumas, T. M., Trudell, A., Donnelly, P. D., & Wells, S. (2023). Development and validation of the C-SHADE Scale for measuring perpetration of common sexually harassing and aggressive behaviors in drinking environments. Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, 47(6), 1191–1203. https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.15087

Items of the Common Acts of Sexual Harassment and Aggression in Drinking Environments Scale (C-SHADE)

No data is Available