Institutional betrayal following military sexual trauma is associated with more severe depression and specific posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters

Andresen, Felicia J.; Monteith, Lindsey L.; Kugler, Jordan; Cruz, Rick A.; Blais, Rebecca K.

doi:10.1002/jclp.22773

Cited by 46 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Most individuals who have experienced sexual assault and other forms of interpersonal violence do not disclose their experiences to others, in part due to the stigma attached to such experiences. Both delayed disclosure and negative social reactions to disclosure (e.g., victimblaming) can exacerbate posttraumatic stress and disrupt help-seeking [39,40]. The tendency not to share traumatic experiences can also create a negative feedback loop where these silenced experiences seem uncommon or taboo to discuss.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who has to tell their trauma story and how hard will it be? Influence of cultural stigma and narrative redemption on the storying of sexual violence

et al. 2020

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Although survivors of sexual violence have shared their stories with the public on social media and mass media platforms in growing numbers, less is known about how general audiences perceive such trauma stories. These perceptions can have profound consequences for survivor mental health. In the present experimental, vignette-based studies, we anticipated that cultural stigma surrounding sexual violence and cultural preference for positive (redemptive) endings to adversity in the United States (U.S.) would shape perceptions. Four samples of U.S. adults (N = 1872) rated first-person narratives of 6 more stigmatizing (i.e., sexual violence) or less stigmatizing (e.g., natural disaster) traumatic events. Confirming pre-registered hypotheses, sexual violence trauma (versus other types of trauma) stories were perceived as more difficult to tell, and their storytellers less likeable, even when they had redemptive endings. Disconfirming other pre-registered hypotheses, redemptive (versus negative) story endings did not boost the perceived likelihood or obligation to share a sexual violence trauma story. Rather, redemptive (versus negative) story endings only boosted the perceived likelihood, obligation, and ease of telling other, less stigmatizing types of trauma stories. Findings suggest that sexual violence survivors do not benefit, to the same degree as other survivors, from telling their stories with the culturally valued narrative template of redemption. Clinical and societal implications of the less receptive climate for sexual violence stories are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who has to tell their trauma story and how hard will it be? Influence of cultural stigma and narrative redemption on the storying of sexual violence

et al. 2020

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“…Smith and Freyd (2013) found that institutional betrayal contributed to increased posttraumatic distress in female survivors of sexual trauma. In addition, recent research demonstrated that female veterans who experienced MST with accompanying institutional betrayal reported more severe PTSD and depression symptoms compared to female veterans who did not experience institutional betrayal (Andresen, Monteith, Kugler, Cruz, & Blais, 2019). Overall, these findings suggest that due to the potential high level of betrayal associated with MST, survivors are at an increased risk for severe psychopathology.…”

Section: Associations Between Mst and Ptsdmentioning

confidence: 89%

Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Severity Mediates the Relationship Between Military Sexual Trauma and Tension Reduction Behaviors in Male and Female Veterans

Hannan

Thomas

Allard

2019

J Interpers Violence

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Numerous studies attest to the prevalence and complex negative consequences associated with military sexual trauma (MST). However, relatively less is known about male survivors and about the interaction of psychological problems such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and emotion management difficulties following MST. The current study examined the path of psychological distress following MST in both male and female veterans. We predicted that (a) history of MST would predict more severe PTSD symptoms, which in turn would predict greater use of dysfunctional emotion management strategies (specifically, tension reduction behaviors) and that (b) PTSD symptoms would mediate the relationship between history of MST and tension reduction behaviors. Finally, we explored whether the indirect (i.e., mediating) effect was moderated by gender. Data were obtained from pretreatment paper and pencil assessments administered as part of standard clinical care from 338 veterans seeking treatment at a Veterans Affairs (VA) mental health specialty clinic. Veterans who endorsed MST experienced more severe PTSD symptoms and greater reported use of tension reduction behaviors. Bootstrapping testing the indirect effect revealed that PTSD symptoms mediated the relationship between history of MST and tension reduction behaviors. An exploratory moderated mediation analysis found that the indirect effect did not differ as a function of gender. PTSD symptoms appear to mediate the relationship between MST and tension reduction behaviors in veterans, regardless of gender. While previous research has suggested that civilian men report a greater number of tension reduction behaviors following a sexual assault compared to civilian women, we did not find the same gender differences among veterans. These results may provide support for using trauma-focused treatment even when MST survivors are reporting high-risk tension reduction behaviors.

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“…Beyond missing an opportunity to challenge rape myth acceptance with accurate and sensitive information, results of this study indicate that the typical Clery Act email alerts may be harmful to the large subset of college students who have experienced a betrayal trauma (Black et al, 2010). More recent research on the emerging concept of institutional betrayal indicates that this type of betrayal carries the risk of psychological harm akin to interpersonal betrayal (Andresen, Monteith, Kugler, Cruz, & Blais, 2019;Monteith, Bahraini, Matarazzo, Soberay, & Smith, 2016;Smith & Freyd, 2013;2017).…”

Section: Study 1 Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

University Crime Alerts: Do They Contribute to Institutional Betrayal and Rape Myths?

Adams-Clark¹,

Bhuptani²,

Smith³

et al. 2020

Dignity

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Universities are mandated by the Clery Act (20 USC § 1092(f)) to publicize the occurrence of certain campus crimes. Many universities rely on "Crime Alert" emails to quickly and effectively communicate when a crime has occurred. However, communications of sexual crimes are often narrow (e.g., limited to stranger-perpetrated crimes) and misleading (e.g., containing safety tips that are not applicable to most types of sexual violence). The current paper presents the results of two studies that test the effects of reading crime alert emails on subsequent endorsement of rape myths and institutional betrayal. In Study 1, participants read a typical crime alert email describing a stranger-perpetrated crime, an alternative email describing an acquaintance-perpetrated crime, or a control email describing an event unrelated to interpersonal violence. Men were significantly more likely to endorse rape myths than were women in the control condition, but not in the typical or alternative email condition. In addition, results from Study 1 indicate that issuing crime alert emails following stranger-perpetrated sexual violence leads to a sense of institutional betrayal among students who have experienced acquaintance-perpetrated violence. In Study 2, participants read a typical crime alert email or an alternative digest email. Participants who read the typical email reported higher rape myth acceptance, but not institutional betrayal, than those who read the digest email. There were also significant gender differences in student opinions of each email that suggest the digest email format may serve as a useful tool for engaging male students in the issue of campus sexual violence. Taken together, these studies provide converging evidence that university communication regarding sexual violence can either perpetuate or positively influence attitudes towards sexual violence.

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Institutional betrayal following military sexual trauma is associated with more severe depression and specific posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters

Cited by 46 publications

References 49 publications

Who has to tell their trauma story and how hard will it be? Influence of cultural stigma and narrative redemption on the storying of sexual violence

Who has to tell their trauma story and how hard will it be? Influence of cultural stigma and narrative redemption on the storying of sexual violence

Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Severity Mediates the Relationship Between Military Sexual Trauma and Tension Reduction Behaviors in Male and Female Veterans

University Crime Alerts: Do They Contribute to Institutional Betrayal and Rape Myths?

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