Event Centrality, Not Posttraumatic Growth, Explains Trauma Symptom Course Among Sexual Assault Survivors

This study sought to investigate event centrality and posttraumatic growth (PTG) as mediators between retrospectively reported trauma symptoms (RTS) shortly after the sexual assault occurred and self-reported trauma symptoms at the current time (CTS). College students who experienced sexual assault completed an online questionnaire. Results found that event centrality, and not PTG, mediated the relationship between RTS and CTS. This suggests that sexual assault survivors who viewed the traumatic event as central to their life and identity tended to have current trauma symptoms more closely corresponding to their trauma symptoms (rated retrospectively) at the time of the assault.