Life Change and Rape Impact

A central assumption in the life-change literature asserts a linear association between severity of life change and illness. Life changes are viewed as stressors that upset the normal homeostasis of the individual, and so increase susceptibility to disease. The present research, using data collected on adult female rape victims, investigates the effects of prior life change on the level of emotional trauma experienced by victims of sexual assault. Four models are developed and tested. The analysis of the data indicates that there is a significant curvilinear relationship between prior life change and the level of rape impact suffered by the victim. This curvilinear relationship, which is consistent with one of the proposed models, is found both during the acute stage and the reorganization stage of the rape trauma syndrome. The qualitative nature of the prior life change (whether it was positive or negative) and other control variables relating to the victim and the sexual assault do not alter the relationship between prior life change and rape impact. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the life-change literature and the provision of rape crisis treatment services to sexual assault victims.