Coping,Emotion Regulation,and Self-Blame as Mediators of Sexual Abuse and Psychological Symptoms in Adult Sexual Assault |
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Authors: | Sarah E. Ullman Liana C. Peter-Hagene Mark Relyea |
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Affiliation: | 1. University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago , Illinois , USA seullman@uic.edu;3. University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago , Illinois , USA |
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Abstract: | This study examined whether coping, emotion regulation, and self-blame mediate relationships of trauma histories with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression in adult sexual assault victims (N = 1863). A path analysis showed that theorized mediators partially mediated associations between trauma history variables and psychological symptoms. Specifically, child sexual abuse severity was related to greater post-traumatic stress disorder and depression indirectly through maladaptive coping and decreased emotion regulation but not self-blame. Other traumas had direct relationships with symptoms and partially mediated effects through maladaptive coping and emotion regulation. Child sexual abuse was unrelated to self-blame, but other traumas were related to greater self-blame. Results differed according to whether women had counseling post-assault. Implications are drawn for future research and clinical treatment of adult sexual assault victims. |
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Keywords: | child sexual abuse psychological symptoms mediators counseling structural equation modeling |
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