Sexual Victimization History, Depression, and Task Physiology as Predictors of Sexual Revictimization: Results From a 6-Month Prospective Pilot Study

The current study examined depression and physiological reactivity to a sexual threat task as longitudinal predictors of sexual revictimization in women with sexual victimization histories. The sample included 14 young adult women (Mage = 19.15) who reported child sexual abuse. Heart rate and root mean square of the successive differences were measured at baseline and during the presentation of sexual victimization–related words during an Emotional Stroop task. Results indicated that women who reported a greater history of childhood sexual abuse and adult sexual victimization were at increased risk for sexual revictimization 6 months after initial data collection. Furthermore, even after accounting for their childhood and adult sexual victimization histories and depression symptoms, women who exhibited reduced, or blunted, physiological activity during the sexual victimization stimuli of the Stroop task were more likely to report sexual revictimization during the 6-month follow-up. The findings suggest that sexual victimization survivors may benefit from interventions that address physiological blunting and the recognition of sexual threat cues in their environment.