A Qualitative Study of Sexual Assault Disclosure Impact and Help-Seeking on Support Providers

Abstract

Friends, family, and significant others who receive disclosures of sexual assault from survivors are also susceptible to the effects of trauma. Most studies on the impact of sexual assault disclosure focus on the experiences of friends of survivors but not significant others or family members, and do not examine support provider’s (SP’s) help-seeking behaviors. This study of 45 matched pairs of sexual assault survivors and SPs explored the impact of receiving a disclosure and dealing with the emotional weight of these disclosures. SPs were impacted emotionally and in post-disclosure behaviors. SPs reported feeling sadness, were triggered, felt angry, and felt inspired by survivors’ disclosures. Active cognitive and behavioral reactions included care-taking of survivors and engaging in prevention. SPs discussed different ways they sought help to deal with the disclosure and why they did or did not seek help post-disclosure. We provide recommendations for SPs and service providers using this data from a diverse, community sample.

Mental health help-seeking after a sexual assault: A dyadic study of sexual assault survivors and informal support providers.

“…Three overarching themes appeared in the dyadic sample that sometimes manifested in unique ways based on the relationship type: (a) differing opinions on helpfulness of formal support services sought; (b) barriers and facilitators to seeking formal help post assault; and (c) struggles to communicate/support formal help-seeking needs. Prior analyses of these data examined the impact of sexual assault disclosure on different relationship types in general (Kirkner et al, 2018), but not how formal help-seeking was viewed and/or sought within the dyadic relationships. In the final sample, five matched pairs described their relationship as “significant other,” nine matched pairs identified as family relationships, and 14 matched pairs described their relationship as “friends.” Descriptive information on types of formal support sought by survivors is presented in Table 1…”

Predictors of Disclosure Recipients’ Social Reactions to Victims’ Disclosures of Dating and Sexual Violence: A Longitudinal Study of College Students

“…Similar to previous research (Edwards & Dardis, 2016), we sought to further expand attribution theory to include additional constructs. More specifically, we sought to describe the frequency with which disclosure recipient–specific (i.e., gender, race, sexual orientation, age, DSV victimization history, PTSD, general alcohol use, victim empathy, and victim blame), victim-specific (i.e., gender, age, perceptions of how upset the victim has been during the past month, perceptions of how well the victim is coping with the experience), relationship-specific (i.e., victim-perpetrator closeness, disclosure recipient-victim closeness), and situation-specific (i.e., victim alcohol use at the time of the assault, victim distress at the time of the disclosure, victim alcohol use at the time of the disclosure, disclose recipient alcohol use at the time of the disclosure) variables that theory and/or research (the vast majority of which is cross-sectional) suggest are related to disclosure recipients’ social reactions to DSV disclosures (Edwards & Dardis, 2016; Kirkner et al, 2018; Sylaska & Edwards, 2014; Ullman, 2010; West & Wandrei, 2002).…”

Identifying Moderators in the Link Between Workplace Discrimination and Health/Well-Being

“…Coworkers and supervisors listen sympathetically and acknowledge other people's feelings (i.e., emotional support). Coworkers and supervisors also provide physical aid and tangible assistance by giving advice and knowledge for solving problems (i.e., instrumental support; Fenlason and Beehr, 1994). Cohen and Wills (1985) theorized that social support directly affects stress through the self-esteem-enhancing effects of social acceptance.…”