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Rape Myth Acceptance in Sexually Assaulted Adolescents' School Contexts: Associations with Depressed Mood and Alcohol Use
Author(s) -
Dworkin Emily R.,
Sessarego Stephanie N.,
Pittenger Samantha L.,
Edwards Katie M.,
Banyard Victoria L.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1002/ajcp.12173
Subject(s) - psychology , mood , denial , health psychology , clinical psychology , poison control , suicide prevention , psychological intervention , affect (linguistics) , injury prevention , psychiatry , developmental psychology , public health , medicine , environmental health , nursing , communication , psychoanalysis
High school students exposed to sexual assault ( SA ) are at risk for negative outcomes like depressed mood and high‐risk drinking. Although evidence suggests that both social contexts and internalized stigma can affect recovery from SA , no research to date has directly examined the presence of stigma in social contexts such as high schools as a correlate of adjustment after SA . In this study, the self‐reported rape myth acceptance ( RMA ) of 3080 students from 97 grade cohorts in 25 high schools was used to calculate grade‐mean and school‐mean RMA , which was entered into multilevel models predicting depressed mood and alcohol use among N = 263 SA survivors within those schools. Two forms of RMA were assessed (i.e., rape denial and traditional gender expectations). Results indicate that higher grade‐mean rape denial was associated with higher risk for depressed mood among high school boys and girls exposed to SA , and higher grade‐mean traditional gender expectations were associated with higher risk for alcohol use among girls exposed to SA . Survivors' own RMA and school‐level RMA were not significantly associated with their depressed mood or alcohol use. Although causality cannot be concluded, these findings suggest that interventions that reduce stigma in social contexts should be explored further as a strategy to improve well‐being among high‐school‐aged survivors of SA .