This research proposal is focused on my development as an independent clinician-scientist as a family thereapist in the mental health research of family response to sexual assault/rape. The academic studies proposed are designed to increase my competencies as an independent researcher in quantitative and qualitative methods, inclusive of grounded theory-phenomenological methodologies, in mental health research. The purpose of my research is to determine through a systematic, comparative, empirical investigation the response and recovery of families/significant others to both the immediate and long-term impact of a sexual assault/rape based on objective data from well-validated measures and descriptive data using a multi-method approach. Families/significant others who have experienced an assault/burglary will be studied as a comparison group to the sexual assault/rape subjects. Instruments used will identify assault situation variables and intervening variables of prior stressful life-events; a history of child sexual victimization, abuse or violence; prior psychiatric history; and crisis intervention/counseling with subjects seeking or declining treatment on the dependent measures assessing subjects' social adjustment, symptoms of stress, and patterns of family functioning in response to the assault. In addition, open-ended audio and videotaped grounded theory-phenomenological interviews will assess the impact of the assault on the psychological and behavioral sequelae for these persons. Assessments are scheduled at intake and 6 weeks later, and at intervals of 3, 6, and 12 months; and non-scheduled sessions are provided to meet the crisis intervention/counseling needs of subjects. All clinical interventions are documented on data forms and will be evaluated for associations related to outcome measures and patterns that emerge in analyzing the interviews. It is expected that significant discoveries will be made resulting in a major contribution to our understanding of family response to sexual assault/rape suggesting further experimental studies to test the effectiveness of varying treatment interventions.
| Mackey, T; Sereika, S M; Weissfeld, L A et al. (1992) Factors associated with long-term depressive symptoms of sexual assault victims. Arch Psychiatr Nurs 6:10-25 |
| Mackey, T F; Hacker, S S; Weissfeld, L A et al. (1991) Comparative effects of sexual assault on sexual functioning of child sexual abuse survivors and others. Issues Ment Health Nurs 12:89-112 |
