Citation

Pinciotti CM, Horrocks BK, Witthuhn LA, Ullman SE. Psychol. Sex. Orientat. Gend. Divers. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/sgd0000640

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Sexual violence is pervasive within the LGB + community, yet despite ample research examining post-assault social support and disclosure among heterosexual women, relatively little is known about the disclosure tendencies and outcomes of LGB + survivors. The current study used a large Amazon Mechanical Turk and undergraduate sample of sexual assault survivors who had disclosed to at least one other person (n = 589), 17.1% of whom identified as LGB +, to examine differences in disclosure tendencies and outcomes between LGB + and non-LGB + survivors. LGB + survivors were more likely to disclose to informal supports, including romantic partners, and provided significantly greater overall content during disclosures, a finding driven by greater sharing of emotions and cognitions with supportive recipients. A significant crossover interaction effect suggested that whereas disclosure content was not associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in non-LGB + survivors, greater disclosure content was associated with increasingly more severe PTSS in LGB + survivors. This finding likely reflects more severe PTSS brought on by the multiplicative effects of trauma and minority stress leading to increased help-seeking in LGB + survivors. The current study builds on previous work regarding the supportive and reciprocal connections that characterize the LGB+ community. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Language: en

Keywords

LGBTQ; Posttraumatic Stress; Self-Disclosure; Sex Offenses; Survivors