Predicting PTSD and Depression following Sexual Assault: The Role of Perceived Life Threat, Post-Traumatic Cognitions, Victim-Perpetrator Relationship, and Social Support

Life threat during assaultive trauma: Critical posttraumatic stress disorder risk factors for injured patients

“…As such, the experience of life threat within injury promotes learned fear responses to stimuli, likely making life threat such a consistent risk factor to PTSD development. These emotional processes, including helplessness, loss of control, and negative emotionality related to the potential loss of life, predicts PTSD and other mental health issues following injury 10,21 . In meta-analytic work, perceived life threat (often assessed through yes/no or single-item measures of life threat during trauma) has a small-to-medium effects in predicting subsequent PTSD development; this finding was consistent across a variety of trauma contexts and populations 22 .…”

“…22,26 Similarly, main effects of trauma type showed that individuals who experienced assaultive traumas endorsed higher reexperiencing, hyperarousal, and avoidance symptoms relative to nonassaultive traumas. In isolation, both risk factors appear to elicit cognitions and emotions that promote heightened fear 10,15,16,21 and subsequent avoidance. 17,26 In addition, grouping participants by the combination of these two factors provided meaningful information regarding the trajectory of symptoms across time.…”

“…These emotional processes, including helplessness, loss of control, and negative emotionality related to the potential loss of life, predicts PTSD and other mental health issues following injury. 10,21 In meta-analytic work, perceived life threat (often assessed through yes/no or single-item measures of life threat during trauma) has a smallto-medium effects in predicting subsequent PTSD development; this finding was consistent across a variety of trauma contexts and populations. 22 In a sample of hospitalized traumatically injured patients, the patient's perception of the injury, as opposed to objective measures such as the ISS, best predicted mental health outcomes.…”

The “Third-Victimization”: The Cybervictimization of Sexual Assault Survivors and Their Families

“…One etiological pattern that presents across studies, regardless of geography and time, is that a greater proportion of women are victimized compared to men (Cantor et al, 2015; Conroy & Cotter, 2017; Fedina et al, 2018; Smith et al, 2017); however, men are also not likely to report victimizations given prevailing heteronormative gender norms (Turchik & Edwards, 2012). Another consistent pattern across studies is that sexual abuse is usually perpetrated by individuals known to survivors: intimate partners, loved ones, or acquaintances (Conroy & Cotter, 2017; Domino et al, 2020; Smith et al, 2017). Given this reality, it is not surprising that data on sexual abuse shows assaults often occur in locations known to survivors (e.g., their homes, perpetrators’ homes) against the backdrop of safety (Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], 2019; Vik et al, 2020; Zilkens et al, 2018).…”

Post‐traumatic stress disorder and depressive symptoms following a Herdsmen attack: The role of life meaning in mediating trait mindfulness

“…While the Fulani herdsmen accused the farmers of stealing their cattle, the farmers accused the herdsmen of destroying their farm produce. Survivors of this attack are now at greatest risk of experiencing post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms, which are considered among the most serious and commonly reported negative outcomes in trauma‐focused research (Domino, Whiteman, Weathers, Blevins, & Davis, 2020; McGuire et al., 2018).…”