RaeAnn E. Anderson

Survivors of sexual assault often disclose their experiences to close support members to seek emotional and practical support. Research consistently demonstrates that post-assault outcomes are shaped by the responses survivors receive following disclosure. Negative responses, in particular, are associated with worsened posttrauma outcomes; however, limited research has examined disclosure experiences among non-White/Latine women. The present study aimed to address this gap by examining associations between specific disclosure response types ( Positive , Turning Against , Unsupportive Acknowledgment ) and negative posttraumatic cognitions among 201 women survivors of sexual assault. Descriptive analyses indicated that racial/ethnic minority participants reported higher rates of both positive and unsupportive acknowledgment responses compared to White/non-Latine women. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that turning against responses were the most consistently associated with stronger negative cognitions about the self, the world, and self-blame. Moderation analyses revealed that turning against responses had stronger negative effects on self-related cognitions among racial/ethnic minority survivors. In contrast, positive responses were associated with reduced negative world-related cognitions only among White/non-Latine participants. These findings highlight important racial/ethnic differences in disclosure experiences and recovery processes. Moreover, they emphasize the need for increased empirical attention to developing culturally responsive models of social support.

Sexual victimization or the experience of any sexual contact without freely given consent, affects at least 30% of American women (Basile et al., 2022). Sexual victimization can have broad and vari...

Most individuals who experience rape do not call it "rape"; rather, they use less stigmatizing terms like "miscommunication," "bad sex," or "sexual assault." When individuals use minimizing terms such as "miscommunication," this is termed "lack of acknowledgment." Lack of acknowledgment is associated with risk for repeated victimization and mixed findings regarding mental health symptoms. Empirical data and theory suggests acknowledgment is nuanced and changes over the lifespan; yet most research uses single item dichotomous measures. The goal of this study is to explore response format (dichotomous vs. scaled) and alternate label choice (sexual assault) as ways to optimize measurement and assessment. Participants, N = 439, received three acknowledgment items randomized throughout a larger survey: rape acknowledgement with a dichotomous (yes/no) response format, rape acknowledgment with a scaled response format, and sexual assault acknowledgment with a dichotomous response format. More participants acknowledged rape on a scaled response format than dichotomous, 20.7% versus 14.3. Participants were 1.4-2.5× more likely to acknowledge sexual assault via the item "I was sexually assaulted" than asking the same question using the word rape. There were gender differences in every analysis, with men 2.8-6.6× less likely to acknowledge rape or sexual assault than women. Our findings suggest that using a scaled response and additional labels like sexual assault may better characterize individuals' experiences improving the measurement and assessment of sexual assault. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Tonic immobility (TI) is an involuntary freeze response sometimes experienced during trauma. The role of perceived substance use in influencing the experience or severity of TI is poorly understood, in part due to measurement difficulties. The goal of this study is to contrast four scoring methodologies and test the measurement invariance of the Tonic Immobility Scale (TIS) comparing sexual assaults that are or are not perceived to be associated with substance use. A total of 179 young women with sexual assault histories completed the TIS, including an added item querying their belief of whether alcohol or substances were related to their TI symptoms during past assaults. Configural, scalar, metric, and residual invariance models were tested to examine whether the TIS functioned equivalently between substance belief-endorsing and nongroups. Between-group t tests found that those who perceived substances influenced their TI symptoms (n = 63) reported significantly more paralysis, inability to move, detachment from self, and detachment from environment than no-TI peers (n = 116). We tested measurement invariance of the TIS; only Bados and Peró's Modified TIS-Brief Form model demonstrated excellent fit for configural invariance. The Modified TIS-Brief Form also retained excellent metrics following metric, scalar, and residual invariance testing. There were differences in the experiences of TI between participants who believed substances impacted their experience of TI and those who did not. Our research suggests that, of the models tested, the Modified TIS-Brief Form may be superior for measuring TI. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Peoples have endured centuries of colonization, resulting in lasting mental health effects (historical trauma). Historical trauma has been linked to PTSD symptoms (e.g., grief, anger, hypervigilance) and resulting health inequities. Clinical psychology, particularly the subfield of positive psychology that centers communities, can help address maladaptive historical trauma coping (e.g., substance misuse) for AI/AN Peoples. Mindfulness is a promising intervention strategy that may mitigate the impacts of historical trauma responses among AI/AN Peoples to prevent substance misuse. The present study investigated relations between historical trauma thought frequency (HLS), historical trauma response (HLASS), trait mindfulness (total FFMQ score), and lifetime substance use among AI/AN adults. Participants self-identified as AI/AN, were ≥18 years old, and endorsed lifetime alcohol or drug use (n = 162) were recruited from a large, Midwestern university and surrounding community. Participants completed an online survey that assessed trait mindfulness, substance use, HLS, and HLASS. Pearson bivariate correlations and moderation analyses were conducted. On average, participants reported thinking of historical losses daily. Higher HLS scores were significantly associated with greater substance use and greater HLASS scores (ps<.01). FFMQ moderated the relation between HLS and substance use (p = .026), such that HLS and substance use were positively associated at low FFMQ levels but non-significant at high FFMQ levels. Findings suggest that AI/AN adults with high trait mindfulness may be less likely to engage in substance use despite the presence of historical trauma thoughts. As such, mindfulness-based interventions may represent promising approaches to reduce substance use associated with historical trauma among AI/AN Peoples. Future clinical and community-based participatory research studies can build on this work to culturally adapt mindfulness-based interventions to reduce substance use related to coping with historical trauma thoughts among AI/AN Peoples.

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) affects approximately 30% of American children assigned female at birth. CSA often has a negative impact on survivors, leading to poorer mental health and an increased risk of subsequent sexual victimization. The current proof-of-concept study sought to examine the acceptability, feasibility, and fidelity of a peer-facilitated, online, one-time group intervention model to simultaneously promote recovery and prevent further victimization. We developed a brief intervention model drawing from components of previously tested protocols (i.e., expressive writing, interpersonal skills). Undergraduate students were trained as facilitators. We conducted online group sessions via Zoom with -three to seven participants per group (n = 40 in k = 10 groups). Participants were women (95.7%) or assigned female at birth nonbinary (4.3%) aged 17-30 who had experienced CSA. They were surveyed pre- and postintervention regarding acceptability. Qualitatively, feedback on the group intervention was very positive. Quantitatively, participants reported feeling more comfortable asking someone to stop sexual advances (M = 4.32/5.0), reported a desire to continue using skills learned (M = 4.56/5.0), and felt comfortable working with the peer providers (M = 4.63/5.0). From the participant-feasibility perspective, 100% of participants reported some level of postintervention skill practice during the one-week follow-up. The average, dichotomous, fidelity rating was 84.9%. Our findings indicate that an online group intervention facilitated by peers to improve health after CSA is acceptable, feasible, and meets minimal fidelity standards. Further development and refinement of this intervention model are warranted. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Previous research has demonstrated a relationship between victimization and perpetration of sexual violence. Social norms approaches have been developed to prevent sexual violence, which focus on changing perceived peer support for sexual violence and related behaviors; however, their efficacy is limited. Interpersonal difficulties are a well-established consequence of sexual victimization much like impulsivity is a well-established risk factor for sexual perpetration, however, these risk factors are often considered in relation to one form of violence rather than both. The goals of this study were to 1) describe and assess the relationship between knowledge of peers’ sexual violence experiences and 2) examine the afore-mentioned risk factors while considering victim-offender overlaps to inform prevention and restorative justice efforts. College men (n = 485) completed an anonymous online survey. 46.4% reported sexual violence exposure, specifically 10.5% victimization only, 6% perpetration only, and 29.9% both exposures. Many participants reported knowing a victim (43.9%) or perpetrator (32.4%), mostly consisting of friends and acquaintances. Violence-exposed groups demonstrated significantly more knowledge of victimization (Victimization Only 52.9%, Perpetration Only 62.1%, Both 61.4% > Control 30.4%) and perpetration (Perpetration only 55.2%, Both 49% > Control 20.8%) amongst their peers than nonviolence-exposed controls. Those with victimization only reported greater interpersonal difficulties than nonviolence-exposed controls (d = 0.613). When accounting for childhood sexual abuse (CSA), those with all three experiences had greater interpersonal difficulties (d = 0.766). Those with perpetration experiences demonstrated greater levels of impulsivity than nonviolence-exposed controls (d = 0.440). When accounting for CSA, those with both exposures (excluding CSA) had greater impulsivity (d = 0.488).

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common psychopathological outcome of sexual assault. Peritraumatic tonic immobility (TI; involuntary “freezing”) during sexual assault has been linked with worsened PTSD symptoms, yet little research has examined these effects longitudinally. The present study aimed to examine the effects of TI on the severity of PTSD symptoms, negative posttraumatic cognitions (NPC), and dissociative symptoms over 1 year among 112 female survivors of sexual assault aged 16–30 years. Multilevel linear regressions evaluated the effects of time since sexual assault, TI severity, and their interaction on the severity of PTSD symptoms, NPC (total, blame, self, world), and dissociative symptoms. Results indicated that TI severity was associated with increased NPC, β =   .22, p = .018, and dissociative symptom severity, β = .65, p = .037, but not PTSD symptom severity, β = .25, p = .116; these associations remained consistent over time. Given the salience of NPCs, individuals seeking care for TI‐associated sexual trauma may benefit from interventions that can reduce NPCs (e.g., prolonged exposure, cognitive processing therapy). Further evaluating these treatments’ utility in reducing dissociation may be of particular benefit to individuals with a history of TI reactions during trauma. Finally, coercive rape tactics were associated with increased PTSD symptoms, β = .48, p = .002, whereas forcible, β = −.04, p = .805, and drug‐ or alcohol‐facilitated rape tactics, β = .35,  p = .285, were not, indicating the importance of assessing verbal coercion in research and clinical work with individuals who have experienced sexual assault.

Sexual exploitation represents a significant public health problem. One form of sexual exploitation that warrants urgent attention is technology-facilitated sexual exploitation (TFSE), especially given rapid increases in digital technology and social media usage, particularly among young people. The newly updated Sexual Experiences Survey (SES-V), a measure of sexual exploitation, now includes a module to measure TFSE. Using data from an online sample of US college students (n = 460, M_age = 24.17) and an online sample of U.S. adults (n = 347, M_age = 45.42), we examined the prevalence of TFSE, determined risk for TFSE among different demographic groups, and evaluated its overlap with other forms of sexual exploitation. Results indicated high rates of TFSE; the college student sample had a higher prevalence than the community adult sample on eight of the 10 TFSE items. In the online sample of adults, younger and LGBQ+ participants were more likely to experience TFSE, and, in the online sample of college students, those who were female, white, identified as LGBQ+, and were older were more likely than their respective counterparts to experience TFSE. In both samples, those who experienced TFSE were more likely to have experienced other forms of sexual exploitation. Findings support the inclusion of a TFSE module when assessing sexual exploitation that will enable researchers to make comparisons across different samples, assess the co-occurrence of in-person and online sexual exploitation, and determine differential vulnerability factors and consequences of online and offline sexual exploitation.