Citation

Arata CM, Burkhart BR. Violence Against Women 1998; 4(2): 224-239.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12295442

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between appraisals of blame, coping strategies, and current symptomatology among 299 female victims of non-stranger sexual assault. Data were collected through a revised version of the Sexual Experiences Survey, the Coping Strategies Scales, the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised, and an attributional questionnaire designed by Meyer and Taylor (1986). This study found out that attribution of blame and the coping variable affect functioning depending on the level of victimization. Women who were currently symptomatic were significantly more likely to engage in characterological and self-blame and were more likely to use coping strategies such as emotional expressiveness, social support seeking, and cognitive restructuring. Differences were found among the different levels of victimization for attributions of blame, but not for types of coping. Victims of rape, either forced or coerced, are more likely to blame themselves than those who were victims of molestation or non-coital sexual assaults. Lastly, there was no evidence of differential use of coping strategies depending on the victimization status.

Language: en