NCJ Number
147488
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1993) Pages: 91-104
Date Published
1993
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Data were collected from a sample of 401 undergraduate females to determine how methods of coping with sexual aggression by friends, dates, and other acquaintances were related to current symptoms of psychological distress.
Abstract
Of the respondents, 106 had been sexually attacked by a male acquaintance since the age of 16. The Sexual Experiences Survey was used to assess whether women had experienced any of four types of nonconsenting sexual contact, while the Brief Symptom Inventory was used to measure current psychological maladjustment; researchers also used a checklist of the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms listed in the DSM-III-R. Coping strategies were measuring using the Coping Strategies Inventory. The results showed that the women who had experienced sexual aggression had greater levels of current psychological distress. These women tended to use disengagement methods of coping (problem-avoidance, social- withdrawal, and self-criticism) more often in response to the sexual aggression than in response to other stressors in their lives, in which they often used engagement methods of coping. Disengagement coping methods and the degree of force used in the aggression were the two best predictors of PTSD symptoms being exhibited by the victims. 2 tables and 40 references