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The effects of revictimization on coping and depression in female sexual assault victims
Author(s) -
Najdowski Cynthia J.,
Ullman Sarah E.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.20610
Subject(s) - coping (psychology) , psychology , feeling , clinical psychology , sexual assault , avoidance coping , poison control , suicide prevention , maladaptive coping , injury prevention , human factors and ergonomics , psychiatry , medicine , social psychology , medical emergency
To examine the effects of being revictimized, 555 women completed 2 mail surveys 1 year apart, reporting their experiences of sexual assault, the strategies they used to cope with those experiences, and feelings of depression. Path analyses, controlling for baseline coping and depression, revealed that those who were revictimized during the study reported using more maladaptive and adaptive coping strategies than did those who were not revictimized (β = .11 and β = .16, respectively). Further, women who were revictimized reported more depression than others (β = .15). This effect was explained in part by revictimized women's increased maladaptive coping. Results are consistent with other research showing that all of women's traumatic experiences must be taken into consideration to understand fully how sexual assault influences women's coping and recovery.