Factors Associated With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptomology Among Women Who Have Experienced Sexual Assault in Canada

Abstract

There is a dearth of information about the association of victim-related and assailant-related characteristics and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among sexually assaulted women. Recently, Statistics Canada included items measuring the possible presence of PTSD symptoms in their 2014 nationally representative General Social Survey on Victimization (GSS-V), for the purpose of improving the understanding of mental health impacts associated with sexual victimization. The present study used the GSS-V to examine the association of sociodemographic, health, and assailant characteristics and prior traumatic experiences in the form of physical or sexual dating violence, physical assault, stalking, childhood abuse, and witnessing of violence between parents with PTSD symptomology among sexually assaulted women. Among 319 women who reported experiencing at least one incident of sexual assault in the 12 months prior to the survey, 68.6% had experienced at least one negative emotional impact as a result, among whom, 43.6% reported past-month PTSD symptoms. Logistic regression modeling revealed that prior traumatic events in the form of physical or sexual dating violence, stalking, and having witnessed violence between parents were associated with higher odds of experiencing PTSD symptoms, as was having been sexually assaulted by a known assailant. In contrast, the odds of experiencing PTSD symptoms was lower for Aboriginal or visible minority women. The results suggest that PTSD symptoms in the near aftermath of sexual victimization are common, and there are a range of factors that contribute to the likelihood of developing these symptoms. Implications for future research are discussed.

Women's Contexts and Circumstances of Posttraumatic Growth After Sexual Victimization: A Systematic Review

“…Sexual violence, defined as unwanted sexual acts against someone (Ulloa et al, 2016), is a global public health and criminal justice problem (Du Mont et al, 2019). Prevalence rates vary considerably across studies with rates ranging from 10.7 to 21.2% for contact-based sexual violence and up to 15.1% for penetrative sexual offenses against children with consistent findings across international studies that girls are at a considerable higher risk of victimization than boys (Tanaka et al, 2017).…”

Applying an Ecological Framework to Factors Associated With Non-Spousal Sexual Assault Among Women in Canada

“…It is, therefore, important to continuously build on evidence-based prevention programs aimed at reducing family violence (Waller, 2011). Future research should explore this complex interplay of the trauma experienced in childhood as a result of experiencing or witnessing victimizations and subsequent victimization in adulthood, as well as how to appropriately respond to the specific needs of this group (Du Mont et al, 2019).…”

The intersections between mental health and sexual assault and abuse

“…Six studies highlighted how more severe forms of adolescent/adult sexual assault/abuse may be associated with worse mental health outcomes. 47,52,54,69,75 For example, Peter-Hagene and Ullman 54 found that women who had experienced high-violence or alcohol-related sexual assault had more severe PTSD symptoms than women who experienced moderate severity sexual assault. The effects of high-betrayal sexual assault (i.e.…”

“…sexual assault by a close other) was examined in Gomez 75 , who found that individuals who had experienced adolescent high-betrayal adolescent sexual assault, reported greater depersonalisation, which in turn predicted NSSI. Du Mont et al (2019) 47 also examined how relationship to perpetrator affects mental illness symptoms, and found that in a sample of women who had experienced sexual assault, women who knew the perpetrator were more than 3 times more likely to experience PTSS than women who did not know the perpetrator.…”