Negative social reactions, such as victim blame, are commonly experienced by victims of rape and are related to poorer psychological adjustment. The proposed small grant project develops and evaluates the psychometric characteristics of a new measure of social reactions to rape victims, the Social Reactions Questionnaire (SRQ). The SRQ was created by the PI in an earlier pilot study and will be revised and pilot-tested with three samples of female rape victims in the proposed project: college students, rape crisis center clients, and community volunteers. Coefficient alpha will be computed for each of the hypothesized subscales emerging from factor analysis of the items to provide information about internal consistency reliabilities of the subscales. Test- retest reliability will be evaluated by having students fill out the SRQ on 2 occasions 8 weeks apart Concurrent reliability will be evaluated by correlating responses to the SRQ with social reactions data obtained from four open-ended questions used in previous research about helpful and unhelpful responses received after disclosing rape. Evaluation of the measure's validity will include examination of construct validity through principal components factor analysis of responses ID the SRQ items to determine whether the hypothesized structure of positive and negative social reaction subscales emerge from the measure. Internal validity will be assessed by correlating responses to each item to its corresponding total factor score. Convergent and discriminant validity will be examined by correlating responses on the SRQ to ratings of helpfulness and satisfaction with social support as well as a psychological outcome measure. This new measure of social reactions to rape victims will provide a useful instrument to mental health researchers studying the effect of the social environment on recovery from rape.
| Ullman, S E; Filipas, H H (2001) Predictors of PTSD symptom severity and social reactions in sexual assault victims. J Trauma Stress 14:369-89 |
