Cultural Values, Negative Reactions to Sexual Assault Disclosure and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms

RM 215

The objective of this study was to examine— amongst recipients of unwanted sexual experiences— the relationships between perceived negative social reactions to their disclosures, cultural affiliation, and severity of PTSD symptoms. Participants were recruited from CSU San Bernardino. They completed a series of self-report measures assessing personal history of traumatic life events, details regarding their disclosures to others regarding an unwanted sexual experience, the types of reactions they received, collectivistic and individualistic cultural values, and PTSD symptom severity. Participation has been overwhelmingly female, and 150 participants will have completed the questionnaire by April 2016. We expect to see that the degree of survivors’ perceived negative social reactions will correlate positively with the severity of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Second, we hypothesize that greater adherence to collectivistic values will be associated with more negative social reactions received upon disclosure. Third, we hypothesize that a greater degree of adherence to collectivistic values will be associated with greater severity of PTSD symptoms. Lastly, we expect that the relationship between negative social reactions and PTSD symptoms will be moderated by participants’ adherence to collectivistic values. Results for Hypotheses 1, 2, and 3 will be calculated using bivariate correlation testing. The moderation proposed in Hypothesis 4 will be tested using hierarchical multiple regression analyses. The outcomes may be useful for tailoring treatment interventions of sexual assault survivors to their culture and social reactions experience. They additionally may be used in the design of public service campaigns targeting the informal support networks of survivors.