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This study examined positive and negative social reactions received by 323 victims disclosing sexual assaults to informal and formal support providers. Analyses of both quantitative and qualitative data indicated that both positive and negative reactions are commonly received by victims disclosing their assaults to others, but that victims seeking help from formal support sources are more commonly faced with negative reactions of victim blame, stigmatizing responses, and controlling reactions from others. Qualitative analysis of written responses provided by respondents also revealed other less common but unhelpful reactions of assault disclosure such as rape myths, violations of the victim's confidential disclosures, and revictimization. Preliminary analyses of the effects of specific reactions on adjustment from different types of support providers suggested that reactions of friends are particularly important for recovery. Positive reactions from friends appear to be more helpful, whereas negative reactions appear to be harmful from both informal and formal support sources. Implications for research and treatment of sexual assault victims are discussed.
Research shows that victims disclosing sexual assaults to others receive a variety of positive and negative responses from social network members. Although positive responses such as belief and listening are common from others, negative reactions are also quite common including disbelief, stigmatizing responses, and victim blame (see Ullman, 1999 for a review). These negative reactions to sexual assault disclosures have been shown to be strongly predictive of poorer psychological symptom outcomes in several cross-sectional studies to date (Campbell, Ahrens, Sefl, Wasco, & Barnes, 2001; Davis, Brickman, & Baker, 1991; Ullman, 1996a; Ullman & Filipas, 2001). In addition, a recent longitudinal study of sexual assault and nonsexual assault victims assessed shortly after their assaults showed that greater interpersonal friction with others soon after the assault predicted PTSD severity three months later (Zoellner, Foa, & Brigidi, 1999). Moreover, all of these studies also reveal much weaker or nonsignificant effects of positive reactions or social support on adjustment. Although several studies show that negative reactions from others are clearly linked to poorer recovery, this is a relatively new area of research and only two recently developed instruments exist to assess positive and negative reactions to sexual assault victims' disclosures (Davis et al., 1991; Ullman, 2000). Furthermore, theoretical models of recovery from sexual assault have been...