Rumination and Event Centrality Mediate the Longitudinal Relationship Between Sexual-Violence Stigma and Internalizing Psychopathology: Results From a Probability-Based Study

Sexual violence (SV) is a stigmatized form of trauma. SV stigma has been associated with greater symptoms of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, these associations have not been examined longitudinally. Furthermore, mechanisms accounting for this relationship have not been identified. We addressed these gaps in the literature by evaluating three putative candidate mechanisms (rumination, event centrality, and self-blame) linking SV stigma to internalizing psychopathology in a longitudinal, population-based sample of Swedish young adults reporting SV ( N = 401). Rumination mediated the longitudinal relationship between SV stigma and symptoms of anxiety (mediating 67% of the relationship), depression (mediating 62% of the relationship), and PTSD (mediating 19% of the relationship) at 2-year follow-up. In addition, the longitudinal relationship between SV stigma and PTSD was mediated by event centrality (mediating 33% of the relationship). We discuss implications of these findings for SV-stigma research and treatment.