Teen girls were less likely to report being sexually victimized after learning to assertively resist unwanted sexual overtures and practicing resistance in a realistic virtual environment, finds a new study.
The effects persisted over a three-month period following the training, said clinical psychologist Lorelei Simpson Rowe, lead author on the pilot study from Southern Methodist University, Dallas.
SMU scientists are at the forefront of cutting-edge research aimed at addressing some of the world's most pressing challenges, questions and issues.
See a sampling of the work they tackle, from Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, to immigration, diabetes, evolution, childhood obesity and more. Besides working in campus labs and within the Dallas-area community, SMU scientists conduct research throughout the world.
Getting along as a couple in a romantic relationship is never easy, but it's even harder for people struggling with severe mental illness.
One reason for that might be the lack of an important social ability called "social cognition" — the ability to accurately read everyday social cues from partners, such as anger, sadness, frustration or annoyance — say SMU psychologists Amy Pinkham and Lorelei Simpson.
Women can choose from four avatars when using SMU's virtual reality technology to learn skills for resisting sexual coercion and rape.In a program at Southern Methodist University, young women are using virtual reality to practice how to recognize and resist unwanted sexual advances in the real world.