Open AccessLabeling of deployment sexual harassment experiences among male and female veterans.
Author(s) -
Christina M. Dardis,
Stephanie Vento,
Jaimie L. Gradus,
Amy E. Street
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
psychological trauma
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.059
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1942-9681
pISSN - 1942-969X
DOI - 10.1037/tra0000330
Subject(s) - harassment , context (archaeology) , mental health , psychology , military personnel , psycinfo , military deployment , offensive , clinical psychology , medicine , occupational safety and health , psychiatry , social psychology , medline , political science , paleontology , management , pathology , law , economics , biology
Victims' conceptualizations of traumatic experiences can impact screening responses and decisions to utilize health care. Despite experiencing events constituting sexual harassment, many victims do not label their experiences as such. In the military, specific situational factors (e.g., occurred on-duty, higher ranking harasser) and victim appraisals of experiences (e.g., offensive, threatening) have been associated with increased labeling of sexual harassment. However, no research has examined sexual harassment labeling among those deployed in recent Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, where the context of harassment may differ from peacetime settings. The purpose of the present study was to examine frequencies of labeling sexual harassment during deployment, factors associated with labeling, and associations between labeling and perceived need for and use of mental health services.