Obsessive Relational Intrusion and Sexual Coercion Victimization

Abstract

A study was conducted to identify the extent to which people self-identified as victimized by obsessive relational intrusion are also victimized by sexual coercion by a given relational partner. Respondents were asked to rate the extent to which they had experienced any 1 of 23 clusters of obsessive relationally intrusive activities, to focus on the worst relationship in which such behaviors were experienced, and indicate the extent to which that same person had engaged in any of 36 sexually coercive activities. Results indicate that obsessive relational intrusion and sexual coercion tend to co-occur in relationships, and that both are unique and relatively equivalent predictors of psychological symptoms, accounting for extensive variance in general distress, sense of loss, and resilience symptoms. Implications are discussed for developing more predictive models of the factors sustaining intrusive relationships.