The Role of Self-Blame in the Association between Social Reactions to Sexual Assault Disclosure and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms

According to social cognitive theories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), posttraumatic cognitions (PTCs), or beliefs people hold after experiencing trauma, play an important role in the development and maintenance of PTSD. Previous research has examined the associations between the reactions survivors receive when disclosing sexual assault and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and it is possible that PTCs, such as self-blame, help account for these associations. In this study, 197 undergraduate women who had experienced a sexual assault in the past year and told someone about the sexual assault completed an online survey that included measures of three types of social reactions to disclosure of sexual assault (turning against, unsupportive acknowledgment, and positive), self-blame PTCs, and PTSS. A path analysis revealed that self-blame partially accounted for the association between turning against social reactions and PTSS, such that turning against social reactions were positively associated with self-blame, which, in turn, was positively associated with PTSS. While both unsupportive acknowledgment and positive social reactions were positively associated with PTSS, self-blame did not account for these associations. These findings suggest that turning against reactions are more strongly associated with self-blame than other types of reactions to disclosure, and that self-blame may play an important role in the association between turning against reactions and PTSS. These findings suggest that evaluating reactions to sexual assault disclosure is important, as addressing these reactions in treatment could help mitigate self-blame and PTSS.