A Prospective Examination of Sexual Assault Labeling and Posttraumatic Stress: Does Trust in the Perpetrator Make a Difference?

How survivors label a nonconsensual sexual experience (i.e. sexual assault labeling) has been linked to posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), but past cross-sectional research has been unable to determine the direction of this relation. To inform support approaches following sexual assault, we examined how sexual assault labeling and PTSS were related over time. We also examined the contextual factor of pre-assault trust in the perpetrator on these relations. Participants were 609 college student sexual assault survivors (aged 19 to 25) who completed an initial online survey and were invited to a follow-up survey 1 to 2 months later. When controlling for individual and assault-specific covariates, results of a cross-lagged panel model indicated that greater sexual assault labeling was associated with subsequent elevations in PTSS, and heightened PTSS was associated with subsequent increases in sexual assault labeling. Moreover, pre-assault trust in the perpetrator was a significant moderator. Specifically, participants who reported greater (vs. weaker) pre-assault trust demonstrated more stability in labeling between timepoints, stronger associations between labeling and later PTSS, and weaker relations between PTSS and later labeling. Findings supported a prospective, bidirectional relation between sexual assault labeling and PTSS and underscored the importance of pre-assault trust in the perpetrator, which may make such labeling uniquely distressing. Informal and formal support providers should be prepared for the distress that may be associated with using a sexual assault label, particularly when survivors trusted the perpetrator before the assault.