Jaffe Anna E, Blayney Jessica A, Schallert Macey R, Edwards Madison E, Dworkin Emily R
Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington.
Psychol Women Q. 2022 Sep;46(3):299-315. doi: 10.1177/03616843221085213. Epub 2022 Apr 13.
Social support after sexual assault is important for recovery, but violence and recovery may also challenge relationships. We examined functional and structural social support changes following sexual assault and their association with mental health. College women (=544) with and without a sexual assault history completed a cross-sectional survey assessing current and past egocentric social networks. Functional support (perceived global support, assault disclosure, perceived helpfulness of responses) and structural support (network density, size, retention) were examined. Multilevel models revealed that, relative to non-survivors, survivors reported smaller, less dense past networks, but similarly sized current networks. Survivors retained less of their networks than non-survivors, and network members who provided unhelpful responses to disclosure were less likely to be retained. Structural equation modeling revealed that, among survivors, perceived unhelpful responses to disclosure and a greater loss of network members were associated with worse mental health. Findings suggest that survivors may experience a restructuring of social networks following sexual assault, especially when network members respond in unhelpful ways to disclosure. Although survivors appeared to build new relationships, this restructuring was associated with more mental health problems. It is possible that interventions to improve post-assault social network retention may facilitate recovery.
性侵犯后的社会支持对康复很重要，但暴力和康复也可能对人际关系构成挑战。我们研究了性侵犯后功能性和结构性社会支持的变化及其与心理健康的关联。有或没有性侵犯史的大学女生（n = 544）完成了一项横断面调查，评估当前和过去以自我为中心的社会网络。研究了功能性支持（感知到的总体支持、披露性侵犯情况、对反应的感知帮助程度）和结构性支持（网络密度、规模、留存率）。多层次模型显示，与未经历过性侵犯的女性相比，经历过性侵犯的女性报告称过去的社交网络规模更小、密度更低，但当前社交网络规模类似。经历过性侵犯的女性比未经历过性侵犯的女性留住的社交网络成员更少，而且对披露性侵犯情况给出无益反应的网络成员被留住的可能性更小。结构方程模型显示，在经历过性侵犯的女性中，对披露性侵犯情况的感知无益反应以及社交网络成员的大量流失与更差的心理健康状况相关。研究结果表明，性侵犯后幸存者的社交网络可能会经历重组，尤其是当网络成员对披露性侵犯情况给出无益反应时。尽管幸存者似乎建立了新的人际关系，但这种重组与更多的心理健康问题相关。改善性侵犯后社交网络留存率的干预措施可能有助于康复。
