Assault-related shame mediates the association between negative social reactions to disclosure of sexual assault and psychological distress.
Abstract
Objective Several studies have identified associations between social reactions to disclosure of sexual assault and psychological distress; however, no studies have evaluated shame as a mediator of this association. This study evaluated assault-related shame as a mediator of the associations between negative social reactions to disclosure of sexual assault and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and global distress and hypothesized that there would be an indirect effect of social reactions to disclosure upon symptoms of psychopathology via assault-related shame. Method Participants were 207 female psychology undergraduates who reported past history of completed or attempted sexual assault and had disclosed the assault to at least 1 other person. Participants completed self-report measures of social reactions to sexual assault disclosure, assault-related shame, and symptoms of psychopathology. Results Participants reported significant histories of attempted or completed sexual assault and indicated clinically significant symptoms of depression and subthreshold symptoms of PTSD and global distress, on average. Evaluation of structural models confirmed the hypothesized indirect effect of negative social reactions to sexual assault disclosure upon symptoms of PTSD (z = 5.85, p Conclusions These findings offer new insight concerning the intervening role of assault-related shame and highlight the importance of shame as a target for therapeutic intervention…
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Negative support following a sexual assault may worsen symptoms such as PTSD and depression.
“many individuals report negative support following a SA which may worsen symptoms such as PTSD and depression (DeCou et al., 2017)”
From “Having One Person Tell Me I Didn’t Do the Wrong Thing”: The Impact of Support on the Post-Sexual Assault Exam Experience (2024) · cites this paper as DeCou et al., 2017
Cites
A Socio‐interpersonal Perspective on PTSD: The Case for Environments and Interpersonal Processes
Maercker, A., & Horn, A. B. (2013) · Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy · doi:10.1002/cpp.1805 · Cited by 303 · see citing works
Psychosocial correlates of PTSD symptom severity in sexual assault survivors
Ullman, S. E., Filipas, H. H., Townsend, S. M., & Starzynski, L. L. (2007) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1002/jts.20290 · Cited by 266 · see citing works
Shorey, R. C., Sherman, A. E., Kivisto, A. J., Elkins, S. R., Rhatigan, D. L., & Moore, T. M. (2011) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/0886260510372949 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
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Dworkin, E. R., Brill, C. D., & Ullman, S. E. (2019) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2019.101750 · Cited by 263 · see citing works
Ullman, S. E. (2023) · Trauma, Violence, & Abuse · doi:10.1177/15248380211016013 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
DeCou, C. R., Mahoney, C. T., Kaplan, S. P., & Lynch, S. M. (2019) · Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy · doi:10.1037/tra0000379 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Self-citationKilimnik, C. D., & Meston, C. M. (2021) · The Journal of Sex Research · doi:10.1080/00224499.2020.1718585 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Wright, E. N., Miyamoto, S., & Anderson, J. (2024) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/10778012231156153 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Yet many individuals report negative support following a SA which may worsen symptoms such as PTSD and depression (DeCou et al., 2017), leading to cessation of further disclosure or support seeking (Ahrens, 2006; Liang et al., 2005; Richter et al., 2021; Ullman, 1996, 2007), and increase…”
BackgroundInfluential
- Authors
- DeCou, C. R., Cole, T. T., Lynch, S. M., Wong, M. M., & Matthews, K. C.
- Affiliations
- Idaho State University (US)
- VA Central Iowa Health Care System (US)
- Venue
- Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy
- Published
- 2017-03
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 166-172
- ISSN
- 1942-9681 (ISSN-L)
- 1942-969X
- OpenAlex
- W2517853052
- Cited by
- 74
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4
- FWCI
- 16.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2018-03-19)
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Trauma Theory Research Practice and Policy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Keywords
- sexual assault, shame, disclosure, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, psychological distress, mediation, women survivors, therapeutic interventions
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Communication, Depression, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Models, Psychological, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sex Offenses, Shame, Social Perception, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Stress, Psychological, Universities, Models, Statistical, Crime Victims, Disclosure, Young Adult, Self Report
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