The assistant professor of strategic communications examined the language young adults use to describe unwanted sexual experiences, offering insights that can strengthen prevention messaging and health communication strategies.
Assistant Professor of Strategic Communications Sydney Nicolla has published new research in Communication Research Reports that explores how young people describe unwanted sexual experiences – and how those word choices can inform more effective prevention efforts.
The research examines how U.S. young adults ages 18 to 29 define and label sexual violence, drawing on responses from 799 participants recruited as part of a broader study. Participants were required to use social media and identify as a Black young adult, Hispanic young adult, or as having lower subjective social status, reflecting a focus on populations often underrepresented in health communication research.
Using a digital questionnaire, Nicolla and her co-authors – Allison J. Lazard and Mirian Avendaño-Galdamez of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – asked participants to describe an unwanted physical sexual encounter in their own words before selecting the term they use most often from a list of options.
Findings revealed that while commonly used terms such as “rape” and “sexual assault” remain prominent, many participants – 42% – responded with reactions, descriptions or emotional reflections rather than specific labels. Among those who selected from a list, “sexual assault” emerged as the most frequently chosen term, followed by “rape.”
Together, these findings highlight the complexity and nuance in how young people understand and communicate about sexual violence, suggesting that prevention campaigns and public health messaging should more closely align with the language audiences actually use.
“This study underscores that language is ever-evolving and critical to get right, especially when we are talking about sensitive topics,” Nicolla said. “By better understanding the words young people use, we can design research and communication strategies that feel more accessible, more accurate and ultimately more effective in prevention and support efforts.”
Nicolla joined Elon University in fall 2023 and brings a professional background in marketing and public relations. Her research has been published in leading journals, including the Journal of Health Communication and Nicotine & Tobacco Research, and she has contributed to nearly $3 million in grant-funded projects focused on public health and media effects.
She also served as the lead author for “Young People Are Willing to Intervene Against Rape Myths Online: A Simulated Social Media Experiment,” published in February 2025 in the Journal of Adolescent Health, a peer-reviewed medical publication dedicated to improving the health and well-being of young adults.