Negative social reactions, such as victim blame, are commonly experienced by victims of rape and are related to poorer psychological and physical health. The proposed project examines how sexual assault experiences may engender negative social reactions from social network members, which may be associated with maladaptive victim responses (e.g., self-blame attributions, avoidance coping), and consequently more psychological symptoms and drinking problems in women embracing alcohol expectancies involving its self-medication function. In phase 1 of the project, a mail survey of approximately 1,000 respondents recruited from three distinct victim populations (college students, community residents, and mental health agency clients) will be conducted to test the proposed theoretical model of rape recovery with women identified as completed or attempted rape victims (N=600). Several hypotheses will be tested to assess the role of social reactions in adjustment to rape using a valid and reliable instrument, the Social Reactions Questionnaire (SRQ), developed by the P1 with prior NIMH small grant funding (Ullman, 2000). In phase 2, women identified from the preliminary survey as more recent victims (within the past year) will be invited to participate in a longitudinal study of recovery from sexual assault (N=100-150). These women will be re-surveyed at a 1 year follow-up interval following their assaults to determine how reactions to disclosure of their experiences, any intervening sexual assaults, alcohol expectancies, coping, and attributions affect PTSD symptom severity and subsequent drinking problems. In phase 3, multivariate analyses of correlates of mental health service seeking will be conducted in the cross-sectional sample. A subset of victims (10 percent) completing the initial mail survey will be interviewed (N=60) regarding their experiences with mental health providers (including their alcohol-related problems) in order to better understand barriers to help seeking, given sexual assault victims' low rate of mental health service seeking.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AA013455-03
Application #
6711657
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-SNEM-1 (01))
Program Officer
Freeman, Robert
Project Start
2002-03-01
Project End
2006-02-28
Budget Start
2004-03-01
Budget End
2005-02-28
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$229,468
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Illinois at Chicago
Department
Miscellaneous
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
098987217
City
Chicago
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
60612
Hakimi, Dehnad; Bryant-Davis, Thema; Ullman, Sarah E et al. (2018) Relationship between negative social reactions to sexual assault disclosure and mental health outcomes of Black and White female survivors. Psychol Trauma 10:270-275
Starzynski, Laura L; Ullman, Sarah E; Vasquez, Amanda L (2017) Sexual Assault Survivors' Experiences with Mental Health Professionals: A Qualitative Study. Women Ther 40:228-246
Bryant-Davis, Thema; Ullman, Sarah; Tsong, Yuying et al. (2015) Healing pathways: longitudinal effects of religious coping and social support on PTSD symptoms in African American sexual assault survivors. J Trauma Dissociation 16:114-28
Starzynski, Laura L; Ullman, Sarah E (2014) Correlates of perceived helpfulness of mental health professionals following disclosure of sexual assault. Violence Against Women 20:74-94
Bryant-Davis, Thema; Ullman, Sarah E; Tsong, Yuying et al. (2011) Surviving the storm: the role of social support and religious coping in sexual assault recovery of African American women. Violence Against Women 17:1601-18
Bryant-Davis, Thema; Ullman, Sarah E; Tsong, Yuying et al. (2010) Struggling to survive: sexual assault, poverty, and mental health outcomes of African American women. Am J Orthopsychiatry 80:61-70
Brecklin, Leanne R; Ullman, Sarah E (2010) The roles of victim and offender substance use in sexual assault outcomes. J Interpers Violence 25:1503-22
Najdowski, Cynthia J; Ullman, Sarah E (2009) Prospective effects of sexual victimization on PTSD and problem drinking. Addict Behav 34:965-8
Ullman, Sarah E; Long, Susan M (2008) Factor structure of PTSD in a community sample of sexual assault survivors. J Trauma Dissociation 9:507-24
Ullman, Sarah E; Starzynski, Laura L; Long, Susan M et al. (2008) Exploring the relationships of women's sexual assault disclosure, social reactions, and problem drinking. J Interpers Violence 23:1235-57

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