Understanding Discussions of Sexual Assault in Young Women on a Peer Support Mental Health App: A Content Analysis

Abstract

Trauma narratives may have been influenced by the Me Too movement, with thousands of individuals disclosing sexual violence stories online. Youth, the largest demographic of online users, may prefer the anonymity of the Internet to discuss experiences of sexual assault. Understanding the ways that young women, especially those experiencing mental health difficulties, discuss their experiences is important as they are at higher risk of revictimization and continued poor mental health. We searched for terms related to acts of sexual assault on a mental health peer-support app, TalkLife, and compared the number of posts during the initial wave of the Me Too movement (October 2017–March 2018) to the same time period in the previous year (October 2016–March 2017). We found a significant increase in posts related to sexual assault of 49.7% between the Pre and Post Me Too time periods ( p < .001), controlling for a general increase in posts. A content analysis of 700 randomly selected posts found that a substantial number of young women used TalkLife to discuss their experiences of sexual assault, and these self-disclosures were mostly hopeless or depressing in tone. Additionally, neither the nature nor the number of self-disclosures varied across time points. The negative tone of the self-disclosures in the current study is worrying because the way women talk about their trauma can shape how they understand it, which could lead to negative self-appraisal and continued mental health difficulties. Online spaces have the potential to support young women and facilitate help-seeking, but we must be attentive to how they are used.

Catcalling victims’ long-term psychological impacts: A qualitative study

“…The threat of mental health risks from street harassment incidents has been reported in several previous studies, such as anxiety and depression, which mediate sleep quality (DelGreco & Christensen, 2020); negative self-assessment (Collaton et al, 2022); self-blaming behaviour; the level of severity of post-traumatic syndrome disorder (PTSD) (Carretta & Szymanski, 2020); together with long-term impacts such as feelings of anger, anxiety, and vulnerability to further victimization (Thornton et al, 2023). In addition, research by DelGreco & Christensen (2020) and Carretta & Szymanski (2020) further investigated aspects of mental health risk, such as the potential for anxiety and depression, as mediated by feelings of shame and fear, self-blaming behavior, and compliance with feminine norms.…”

“…In addition, research by DelGreco & Christensen (2020) and Carretta & Szymanski (2020) further investigated aspects of mental health risk, such as the potential for anxiety and depression, as mediated by feelings of shame and fear, self-blaming behavior, and compliance with feminine norms. Two studies report notes on theme investigations based on content analysis techniques on the online space TalkLife (Collaton et al, 2022) and the online blog on the 'Stop Street Harassment' site (Thornton et al, 2023). Experiences of stressful harassment, including catcalling that occurs at a young age, tend to be resolved through behavioral changes, such as avoiding walking alone, carrying self-defense tools such as pepper spray, modifying one's appearance and clothing choices, and seeking assistance from people around (Thornton et al, 2023).…”

“…Experiences of stressful harassment, including catcalling that occurs at a young age, tend to be resolved through behavioral changes, such as avoiding walking alone, carrying self-defense tools such as pepper spray, modifying one's appearance and clothing choices, and seeking assistance from people around (Thornton et al, 2023). Several research reports suggest clinical interventions that can be conducted, such as therapy to reduce anxiety and depression (Carretta & Szymanski, 2020;DelGreco & Christensen, 2020), social interventions, discussion rooms and support groups, which are all empowering for the victims of street harassment incidents (Collaton et al, 2022).…”