Experiences and coping responses of sexual harassment among Puerto Rican female student-athletes

The central purpose of this study was to explore sexual harassment experiences and behavioral responses among collegiate female student-athletes. This study extended previous research to a different cultural context, and used a different conceptual framework (i.e., Fitzgerald et al.'s three-factor structural model) to understand sexual harassment behaviors and coping responses in sport settings. Specifically, two psychology surveys reflecting the frequency of incidents and coping responses for the three behavioral elements of sexual harassment (gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, and sexual coercion) were integrated into the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire for Sport (SEQ-Sport).;The survey sample included 82 female student-athletes with diverse demographic characteristics. The survey results revealed that approximately 63.4% experienced gender harassment at least once, 46.4% experienced unwanted sexual attention, and 5% experienced sexual coercion. The findings suggest that Puerto Rican female athletes appear to experience a higher level of gender harassment and unwanted sexual attention within their current collegiate sport than reported in other sports studies in industrialized countries. Furthermore, this study revealed important insights regarding athletes' coping strategies. According to survey results, female athletes appear to deal with gender harassment situations using cognitive appraisal or internally-focused responses, while athletes deal with unwanted sexual attention and sexual coercion in a problem-solving manner. The open-ended responses clearly reveal the impact of the socio-cultural context in experiencing and coping with sexual harassment situations.;The theoretical framework used in this study expanded the understanding of sexual harassment in sports. In addition, as the first attempt to investigate sexual harassment in Puerto Rican sport, this study fills a gap in the sport literature about the manifestations of sexual harassment and coping responses in a particular cultural context.