The University of Texas at Austin, USA.
J Interpers Violence. 2021 Jan;36(1-2):NP555-NP576. doi: 10.1177/0886260517734223. Epub 2017 Oct 6.
Survivors of sexual trauma often experience pervasive adverse cognitive attributions, such as assuming responsibility for victimization. In fact, these negative outcomes were recently included in the (5th ed.; ) criterion for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and have garnered substantial research attention devoted toward investigating the effectiveness of empirically supported trauma treatments in altering and reducing maladaptive belief systems. However, less is known about the ways that these negative cognitions may be inadvertently serving an adaptive role in young women's healing and recovery from sexual trauma. The present study examined relationships between situational aspects of sexual victimization, personal responsibility, self-esteem, perceived future control, and perceived future likelihood of assault recurrence using path analysis in a sample of college women ( = 347) who had experienced sexual victimization. Increased physical harm, decreased intoxication of the male, increased survivor intoxication, and decreased clarity of nonconsent were associated with increased personal responsibility, which was positively associated with self-esteem and perceived future control. Self-esteem mediated a negative relationship between personal responsibility and perceived future likelihood of assault recurrence, while perceived future control mediated a positive relationship. Findings suggest that college women's tendency to assume personal responsibility for sexual victimization experiences is a complicated double-edged sword with both harmful and adaptive effects. Innovative, comprehensive, and sophisticated approaches to sexual assault prevention and treatment are needed to more effectively address this issue and support young women's healing and recovery from victimization.
性创伤幸存者通常会经历普遍的不良认知归因，例如将受害归咎于自己。事实上，这些负面结果最近被纳入创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的（第 5 版）标准，并引起了大量研究关注，致力于调查实证支持的创伤治疗在改变和减少适应不良的信念系统方面的有效性。然而，对于这些负面认知如何在年轻女性从性创伤中康复和恢复方面无意中起到适应性作用，人们知之甚少。本研究使用路径分析，在经历过性创伤的女大学生样本（=347）中，考察了性受害情境方面、个人责任、自尊、未来控制感和未来受袭可能性与认知之间的关系。身体伤害增加、男性醉酒减少、幸存者醉酒增加和非自愿性行为的清晰度降低与个人责任增加有关，个人责任又与自尊和未来控制感呈正相关。自尊在个人责任和未来受袭可能性之间存在负相关关系，而未来控制感在两者之间存在正相关关系。研究结果表明，女大学生对性创伤经历承担个人责任的倾向是一把复杂的双刃剑，既有伤害性又有适应性。需要创新、全面和复杂的方法来预防和治疗性侵犯，以更有效地解决这一问题，并支持年轻女性从创伤中康复和恢复。
