Read-react-respond: An integrative model for understanding sexual revictimization.

Females who have been sexually abused in childhood are at significantly higher risk to be revictimized in adolescence and adulthood. Revictimization is associated with a raft of adverse mental and physical health outcomes, and so understanding why victims of childhood sexual abuse are more vulnerable to later sexual assaults has critical implications for their development. It has been hypothesized that sexual abuse in childhood results in reduced ability to recognize and/or respond effectively to sexual threats later in life, but studies examining these ideas have produced inconsistent results. Further, this research has failed to incorporate the powerful physiological reaction elicited by threats of imminent harm to the self, which has the potential to disrupt cognitive processing and coping behavior. In the present paper, we propose a model of revictimization that integrates contemporary theory and research on the biological stress response with cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors believed to be involved in adaptive responding to sexual threats. The model provides a conceptual guide for understanding why females with a history of sexual abuse are more vulnerable to revictimization and offers ideas for improving prevention programs designed to strengthen females' ability to resist sexual coercion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Betrayal and revictimization: Preliminary findings.

The link between childhood sexual abuse and subsequent sexual, emotional, and physical revictimization has been widely reported. The literature is limited, however, in its exploration of the extent to which the level of betrayal inherent in a given childhood traumatic experience affects the likelihood of experiencing similar revictimization in adolescence and adulthood. This study assessed revictimization within a betrayal trauma framework among a sample of 271 college students. As predicted, individuals who reported experiencing high-betrayal trauma at any time point (childhood, adolescence, or adulthood) were more likely to report experiences of trauma high in betrayal during adolescence and adulthood. Relative risk ratios suggest that those who experience childhood trauma high in betrayal are 4.31 times more likely to be victimized in adolescence and 5.44 times more likely to be victimized in adulthood. Logistic regression analyses identified rate of childhood high-betrayal traumas and high levels of traumatic symptoms as significant predictors of high-betrayal trauma victimization in adolescence. Finally, participants’ responses to an exploratory self-report measure examining the relationship among revictimization, awareness for interpersonal betrayals, and response to betrayals in interpersonal contexts were analyzed. Preliminary findings indicate that revictimization risk may be linked to inaccurate identification of specific intimate partner betrayals and the inability to engage in proper self-protection. Suggestions for future research and clinical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol and sexual risk behaviors as mediators of the sexual victimization–revictimization relationship.

Objective: Women who experience sexual victimization, whether in childhood, adolescence, or adulthood, are at elevated risk of sexual revictimization. The mechanism responsible for this robust association is unclear, however. The present study proposed and tested a prospective, mediated model that posited that the association between adolescent and college victimization is mediated via 2 types of risk exposure in the first semester of college: alcohol-related and sexual risk behaviors. Method: Female adolescents (N = 469) were recruited from the community at the time of high school graduation. They completed baseline assessments as well as follow-ups at the end of the first and second semesters of college. Results: Consistent with hypotheses, adolescent sexual victimization was associated indirectly, via high school risk behaviors, with increased first-semester college risk behaviors (i.e., sexual partners, hookups, heavy episodic drinking, and heavy drinking contexts), which were, in turn, strongly predictive of sexual victimization experiences in the first year of college. College risk behaviors partially mediated the significant association between adolescent and first-year college victimization; however, even women without prior victimization faced elevated risk of college victimization with higher levels of college risk behaviors. Conclusions: Women who have experienced adolescent sexual victimization engage in higher levels of risk taking in college, thereby increasing vulnerability to college victimization. Intervention to reduce these primarily alcohol-related risk-taking behaviors may reduce vulnerability to college sexual victimization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood trauma, attachment, and abuse by multiple partners.

This study's purpose was to compare childhood trauma histories, family-of-origin characteristics, affect dysregulation, and attachment characteristics of 93 battered women abused in either single (44%) or multiple (56%) relationships in adulthood. Research participants were administered the Adult Attachment Interview (M. Main & R. Goldwyn, 1998) and completed self-report measures. Multiply victimized women were significantly more likely to have been sexually abused in childhood, to have witnessed violence, and to have experienced parent–child role reversal. Affect dysregulation differentiated the 2 groups but did not mediate the effect of childhood trauma. Women who were unresolved in their attachment were more likely to be multiply victimized in adulthood. Different pathways may lead from women's childhood trauma to vulnerability for multiple victimization in adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A prospective examination of PTSD symptoms as risk factors for subsequent exposure to potentially traumatic events among women.

Previous research has suggested that both exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and emotional reactions to such events act as risk factors for subsequent exposure. Although some studies have implicated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as risk factors, extant research suffers from a number of methodological limitations, including the use of cross-sectional designs and student populations. The present study sought to address these limitations using a 2-year, 3-wave national probability household sample of 2,863 adult women. After controlling for demographic characteristics, prior exposure to PTEs, and Wave 1 depression and substance abuse, PTSD reexperiencing symptoms at Wave 1 predicted subsequent exposure to interpersonal violence victimization (IPVV) perpetrated by a nonintimate perpetrator; however, PTSD symptoms did not predict intimate partner IPVV. In addition, PTSD hyperarousal symptoms were unique predictors of subsequent exposure to other traumatic stressors. Findings suggest that efforts to prevent PTEs should focus attention on both prior exposure and PTSD symptoms in response to such exposure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Abuse, health locus of control, and perceived health among HIV-positive women.

This study of 230 predominantly poor Hispanic and African American women aged 25 to 61 years living with HIV/AIDS in New York City revealed high levels of both sexual (39%) and physical (44%) trauma before the age of 16. Both types of early trauma were correlated with later trauma, and all forms of trauma were significantly associated with current perceived health. In multivariate analyses controlling for relevant covariates, the Powerful Others and Internal Control subscales of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scales (K. A. Wallston, B. S. Wallston, & R. DeVellis, 1978) acted as independent predictors of perceived health rather than (as hypothesized) mediators of the association between trauma and perceived health. Findings underscore the importance of addressing trauma and perceptions of control over one's physical health in the provision of health services to HIV-positive women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)