Fostering resilience and countering stigma: A qualitative exploration of risk and protective factors for negative psychological consequences among alcohol-involved sexual assault survivors.

Abstract

The social-ecological resilience framework posits that the development of negative psychological outcomes (NPO) following alcohol-involved sexual assault (AISA) is influenced by the interaction of sociocultural and individual risk and protective factors. AISA survivors may be particularly vulnerable to AISA stigma (e.g., victim-blaming rape myths), a sociocultural risk factor which, if internalized, may increase individual risk factors such as self-blame, low-self-compassion, and fear of self-compassion (FOSC), in turn contributing to subsequent NPO. Objective: This qualitative study explored AISA survivors' lived experiences regarding AISA stigma, self-blame, self-compassion, and FOSC as interrelated risk and protective factors in fostering or impeding resilience. Method: Eight participants (M = 25.8 years old) who survived AISA completed individual qualitative interviews that were later coded using thematic analysis. Results: Analyses produced three interrelated main themes, where AISA survivors described experiencing: (a) various NPO corresponding to PTSD, anxiety, and depression symptoms; (b) risk factors that undermined resilience, including internalized self-blame secondary to sociocultural AISA stigma, low self-compassion, FOSC, and preexisting maladaptive tendencies; and (c) protective factors contributing to resilience, including resisting self-blame and facilitating self-compassion by living according to one's values and challenging FOSC. Conclusions: Consistent with the social-ecological framework, AISA survivors' resilience toward NPO was undermined by the interrelated constructs of AISA stigma, internalized self-blame, and low self-compassion. In contrast, survivors' values, including being empathic and committed to feminism, fueled motivation to resist victim-blaming stigma and internalized self-blame and to practice self-compassion, ultimately countering the negative psychological effects of AISA. Clinical Impact StatementAISA survivors may benefit from a multifaceted intervention approach targeting individual factors, namely internalized self-blame and barriers to self-compassion, and acknowledging sociocultural factors, particularly AISA stigma.

Substance-involved trauma is associated with worse mental health outcomes among college students.

“…For example, this study found that individuals with substance-involved trauma engage in high levels of avoidance. They may also be more likely to experience self-blame or other unique trauma-related cognitions (Peter-Hagene & Ullman, 2018) and less self-compassion (Sperandio et al, 2021; Strickland et al, 2019, 2022). As such, interventions that encourage exposure to avoid trauma cues and promote the processing of trauma may offer more effective treatment outcomes in this population (Jaffe et al, 2021).…”