Social Reactions to Sexual Assault Disclosure and Problem Drinking

Social reactions to disclosure of sexual victimization and adjustment among survivors of sexual assault.

How a support provider responds to disclosure of sexual victimization has important implications for the process of recovery. The present study examines the associations between various positive and negative social reactions to sexual assault disclosure and psychological distress, coping behavior, social support, and self-esteem in a sample of college women (N = 374). Social reactions to assaul...

To whom do college women confide following sexual assault? A prospective study of predictors of sexual assault disclosure and social reactions.

A prospective methodology was used to explore predictors of sexual assault disclosure among college women, identify who women tell about sexual victimization, and examine the responses of informal support providers (N = 374). Women most often confided in a female peer. Increased coping via seeking emotional support, strong attachments, and high tendency to disclose stressful information predict...

Do drinking motives mediate the association between sexual assault and problem drinking?

Sexual assault and problem drinking are both prevalent in college women and are interrelated. Findings from cross-sectional research indicate that motives to drink to decrease negative affect (coping motives) or to increase positive affect (enhancement motives) are partial mediators of the sexual assault-problem drinking relation. However, no published longitudinal studies have examined these r...

Unsupported or Turned Against: Understanding How Two Types of Negative Social Reactions to Sexual Assault Relate to Post-Assault Outcomes.

Social reactions to disclosures of sexual assault have significant effects on women's post-assault outcomes (see Ullman, 2010, for a review). The Social Reactions Questionnaire (SRQ; Ullman, 2000) measures these reactions (as reported by survivors) and aggregates them into positive and negative scales. However, studies indicate that only some "negative" reactions have a negative valence for sur...

Gradual disclosure by sexual assault victims--a sacred cow?