Social Reactions to Disclosure of Sexual Victimization and Adjustment Among Survivors of Sexual Assault

How a support provider responds to disclosure of sexual victimization has important implications for the process of recovery. The present study examines the associations between various positive and negative social reactions to sexual assault disclosure and psychological distress, coping behavior, social support, and self-esteem in a sample of college women (N = 374). Social reactions to assault disclosure that attempted to control the survivor’s decisions were associated with increased symptoms of posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety and lower perceptions of reassurance of worth from others. Blaming social reactions were associated with less self-esteem and engagement in coping via problem solving. Social reactions that provided emotional support to the survivor were associated with increased coping by seeking emotional support. Contrary to expectations, social reactions that treated the survivor differently were associated with higher self-esteem. Implications are discussed.