Why Do Women Talk About It? Reasons for Disclosure of Sexual Victimization and Associated Symptomology

Kaitlin Walsh Carson; Sara Babad; Elissa J Brown; Valentina Nikulina

doi:10.1177/1077801220978818

Why Do Women Talk About It? Reasons for Disclosure of Sexual Victimization and Associated Symptomology

Violence Against Women. 2021 Dec;27(15-16):3114-3135. doi: 10.1177/1077801220978818. Epub 2021 Jan 6.

Authors

Kaitlin Walsh Carson^{1

2}, Sara Babad^{1

2}, Elissa J Brown³, Valentina Nikulina^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Queens College, City University of New York, Flushing, NY, USA.
² The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York City, NY, USA.
³ St. John's University, Jamaica, NY, USA.

Abstract

Many sexual victimization survivors disclose their experience; however, there is limited research investigating why women disclose this experience and how reasons relate to psychopathology. The current online study aims to further understand the experiences of 142 female survivors (aged 18-29 years) by identifying their reason for disclosure and investigating how reasons relate to self-reported depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomology. Qualitative analyses identified two reasons: intentional and elicited disclosures. Hierarchical linear regressions revealed that elicited disclosures were associated with higher PTSD symptomology than intentional disclosures above and beyond relevant covariates, suggesting that disclosure reason is an important factor in the recovery process.

Keywords: PTSD; disclosure; sexual victimization.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Bullying*
Crime Victims*
Disclosure
Female
Humans
Sexual Behavior
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* / etiology
Young Adult

Grants and funding

SC2 GM125547/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States