Sexual victimization is a serious public health crisis affecting college students, with high rates reported among both women and men. Sexual consent education is crucial as it defines sexual assault and is linked to reduced risk of victimization. Rape myths and stereotyped beliefs shifting blame to survivors are established risk factors for sexual violence. Comprehensive sexual education can mitigate these attitudes, fostering a supportive environment for survivors. However, most high school students in the United States receive abstinence-based or abstinence-plus education, which uses unstandardized protocols and often lacks information about sexual consent. The following study explores the influence of high school sexual education on past sexual victimization and rape myth acceptance in college students. Six hundred sixty-four undergraduate students participated in an online survey through a university participant pool. Results show that those who received comprehensive sexual education were more likely to understand sexual consent and were less likely to endorse past sexual victimization. In contrast, students without comprehensive sexual education reported lower satisfaction with their sexual education and greater acceptance of rape myths. Despite limitations in the study’s sample and reliance on self-reporting, this research highlights the importance of implementing comprehensive sexual education, including consent education, in high schools. Policymakers and educators must recognize the influence of comprehensive sexual education in promoting healthy relationships and combating sexual assault. As a significant public health concern, incorporating standardized sexual consent education into high school curricula can equip students with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about their sexual health and relationships. Future research should explore diverse populations and the mediating role of related factors that may further influence these relationships. These efforts will contribute to fostering a safer environment within educational institutions and combating sexual assault.

The study of suicide is complex and often relies on proxy measures of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, which have significant limitations. Virtual Reality (VR) has recently been used to study processes associated with suicidal behavior without the associated risk. However, other mechanisms may explain the decision to engage in virtual suicide, other than suicide-related processes. One such confounder, impulsivity, may impact this decision as it relates to other safe recreational jumping activities (e.g., base jumping, bungee jumping, skydiving). This study examined likelihood of jumping (“Virtual Suicide”) in a VR suicide scenario in a sample of 145 undergraduates. Specifically, we examined impulsivity facets, suicidal ideation, and history of suicide attempt to determine which factors predicted jumping likelihood. We found that suicidal ideation and only the impulsivity facet of sensation-seeking were related to the likelihood that someone jumped during the VR suicide scenario, while history of suicide attempt was not. More research needs to be done on using suicide-related VR to better understand its relationship with real life suicidal behavior, however it has promise for the future of suicide research after further study.

Despite the far-reaching impact of suicide on our communities, suicide prevention has historically focused on distally related risk factors for suicidality, which gives us an incomplete picture of how someone comes to make a suicide attempt. Instead, our focus needs to extend to research that explains the maintenance and progression from an emotional state to a suicidal crisis. One such factor, rumination, may create or worsen suicidal thinking by amplifying the distress associated with negative thoughts. Ruminative thoughts are often described as difficult to control, and people may think about suicide as an escape from these uncontrollable thoughts. The current study examined the relationship between severity of lifetime suicidal thinking and certain forms of rumination (i.e., brooding, reflection, anger rumination, and suicidal rumination) in a sample of 145 undergraduate students with suicidal thoughts. For each form of rumination that was related to suicidal thinking, we then examined whether that relationship was accounted for by perceived uncontrollability of one’s own thoughts. We found that all forms of rumination were related to severity of lifetime suicidal thinking, as well as heightened perceived inability to control one’s own thoughts. This thought control inability helped account for the relationships between brooding, reflection, and anger rumination with severity of suicidal thinking, but did not play a role in the relationship between suicidal rumination and suicidal ideation severity. Clinicians should be aware of the impact ruminative thoughts may have on suicidal thinking. More research needs to be done to replicate and extend these effects.