African American Sexual Assault Survivors and Mental Health Help-Seeking: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Little research has focused on African American women’s sexual assault victimization and mental health seeking. A mixed methods study was conducted to explore African American women’s sexual assault in relationship to mental health seeking and experiences with mental health providers in a large community sample. Quantitative survey and qualitative interview data indicated unique correlates of immediate and longer term seeking of help from various mental health sources. Barriers and facilitators of African American women’s mental health seeking were identified and qualitative themes were uncovered relevant to this group of survivors. Implications for research and clinical practice with this population are provided.

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

“…For example, low-income women and women of color report barriers related to a lack of knowledge about services, not acknowledging or labeling their assault as rape, and lack of trauma-informed formal services that address their postassault needs (Sit & Stermac, 2021; Weist et al, 2014). One mixed-methods study of Black women sexual assault survivors showed that Black women report cultural and financial barriers to seeking mental health services that made it difficult to impossible to receive the counseling/psychiatric help they needed and wanted (Ullman & Lorenz, 2020). Similarly, Latina/x survivors also report cultural barriers to help-seeking, and the role of immigration status is also important in help-seeking, as undocumented Latina/x survivors are less likely to seek formal help (Zadnik et al, 2016).…”

“…Barriers to help-seeking include service accessibility, consistent communication, trauma-informed care, and survivor-focused services (Gagnon et al, 2018), as well as not labeling one’s experience as an assault, feeling undeserving of help, and fear of unhelpful/retraumatizing formal services (Patterson et al, 2009). Structural barriers (e.g., lack of information, services) occur at the intersections of race and class, especially for survivors of color in rural areas (Logan et al, 2005; Ullman & Lorenz, 2020).…”

The impact of sociocultural contexts on mental health following sexual violence: A conceptual model.

“…Similarly, cultural expectations of strong Black womanhood convey strength and resilience, while also placing tremendous expectations for self-reliance on Black women (Fontes & Plummer, 2010; Maier, 2012; Tillman et al, 2010). For example, in a qualitative study of help-seeking among African American women who had experienced sexual violence (Ullman & Lorenz, 2020), one participant stated, “I was raised as African American back in those times it’s like we were almost raised to believe that getting psychiatric help was a sign of weakness.” As highlighted by this quote, norms regarding the appropriateness of various help-seeking decisions may affect survivors’ decisions about accessing various services and supports, which could in turn affect their mental health.…”

The Role of Discrimination Experiences in Postrape Adjustment Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Women

“…Racial and ethnic minority groups are more likely to drop out of trauma treatment (e.g., Lester et al, 2010), and as noted previously, sexual violence survivors of color experience greater barriers to accessing services in the aftermath of an assault (Loya, 2014;Tillman et al, 2010;Ullman & Lorenz, 2020;Weist et al, 2014). Despite increased attention to personalized medicine approaches for the treatment of PTSD (e.g., Nicholson et al, 2020), there is limited understanding of how secondary prevention programming could be tailored for sexual violence survivors of color.…”