Psychosocial correlates of PTSD symptom severity in sexual assault survivors

This study's goal was to assess the effects of preassault, assault, and postassault psychosocial factors on current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms of sexual assault survivors. An ethnically diverse sample of over 600 female sexual assault survivors was recruited from college, com...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of traumatic stress 2007-10, Vol.20 (5), p.821-831
Main Authors: Ullman, Sarah E., Filipas, Henrietta H., Townsend, Stephanie M., Starzynski, Laura L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Anxiety disorders. Neuroses
Biological and medical sciences
Female
Health Surveys
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Medical sciences
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Regression Analysis
Severity of Illness Index
Sex Offenses - psychology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - physiopathology
Survivors - psychology
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Summary:This study's goal was to assess the effects of preassault, assault, and postassault psychosocial factors on current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms of sexual assault survivors. An ethnically diverse sample of over 600 female sexual assault survivors was recruited from college, community, and mental health agency sources (response rate = 90%). Regression analyses tested the hypothesis that postassault psychosocial variables, including survivors' responses to rape and social reactions from support providers, would be stronger correlates of PTSD symptom severity than preassault or assault characteristics. As expected, few demographic or assault characteristics predicted symptoms, whereas trauma histories, perceived life threat during the assault, postassault characterological self‐blame, avoidance coping, and negative social reactions from others were all related to greater PTSD symptom severity. The only protective factor was survivors' perception that they had greater control over their recovery process in the present, which predicted fewer symptoms. Recommendations for intervention and treatment with sexual assault survivors are discussed.
ISSN:0894-9867
1573-6598
DOI:10.1002/jts.20290