Citation

Sall KE, Miller JC, Jansen E, Shonrock AT, Byrd R, Carels RA. J. Interpers. Violence 2024; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/08862605231223993

PMID

38189155

Abstract

Approximately one in five college women experience a sexual assault (SA), though a meaningful percentage of survivors do not acknowledge or label their experience as such. Research indicates that acknowledgment status is often influenced by how closely SA incidents align with the "real rape" script and degree of survivor rape myth acceptance (RMA). However, studies evaluating acknowledgment paired with other attitudes and health outcomes among survivors is sparse. The current study examined the relation between acknowledgment status, RMA, weight-related constructs, and psychological well-being among three groups of college women (N = 584): non-survivors, unacknowledged survivors, and acknowledged survivors.

FINDINGS indicate that, among survivors, acknowledged compared to unacknowledged SA is significantly associated with diminished body appreciation, self-esteem, and increased internalized weight bias, though no differences in psychological distress were found.

Language: en

Keywords

body appreciation; rape myth acceptance; Sexual assault acknowledgment; weight bias