Fostering Resilience and Countering Stigma: A Qualitative Exploration of Risk and Protective Factors for Negative Psychological Consequences Among Alcohol-Involved Sexual Assault Survivors

Noelle J. Strickland, Karen T.Y. Tang, Christine Wekerle, Sherry H. Stewart

Producción científica: Contribución a una revistaArtículorevisión exhaustiva

7 Citas (Scopus)

Resumen

The social-ecological resilience framework posits that the development of negative psychological outcomes (NPO) following alcohol-involved sexual assault (AISA) is influenced by the interaction of sociocultural and individual risk and protective factors. AISA survivors may be particularly vulnerable to AISA stigma (e.g., victim-blaming rape myths), a sociocultural risk factor which, if internalized, may increase individual risk factors such as self-blame, low-self-compassion, and fear of self-compassion (FOSC), in turn contributing to subsequent NPO. Objective: This qualitative study explored AISA survivors’ lived experiences regarding AISA stigma, self-blame, self-compassion, and FOSC as interrelated risk and protective factors in fostering or impeding resilience. Method: Eight participants (M = 25.8 years old) who survived AISA completed individual qualitative interviews that were later coded using thematic analysis. Results: Analyses produced three interrelated main themes, where AISA survivors described experiencing: (a) various NPO corresponding to PTSD, anxiety, and depression symptoms; (b) risk factors that undermined resilience, including internalized self-blame secondary to sociocultural AISA stigma, low self-compassion, FOSC, and preexisting maladaptive tendencies; and (c) protective factors contributing to resilience, including resisting self-blame and facilitating self-compassion by living according to one’s values and challenging FOSC. Conclusions: Consistent with the social-ecological framework, AISA survivors’ resilience toward NPO was undermined by the interrelated constructs of AISA stigma, internalized self-blame, and low self-compassion. In contrast, survivors’ values, including being empathic and committed to feminism, fueled motivation to resist victim-blaming stigma and internalized self-blame and to practice self-compassion, ultimately countering the negative psychological effects of AISA.

Idioma originalEnglish
PublicaciónPsychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy
DOI
EstadoAccepted/In press - 2022

Nota bibliográfica

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022. American Psychological Association

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article

Huella

Profundice en los temas de investigación de 'Fostering Resilience and Countering Stigma: A Qualitative Exploration of Risk and Protective Factors for Negative Psychological Consequences Among Alcohol-Involved Sexual Assault Survivors'. En conjunto forman una huella única.

Citar esto