Citation

Joshi M, Rahill GJ, Rhode S. J. Black Psychol. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Association of Black Psychologists, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0095798421997217

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Women in resource-constrained, postdisaster, urban enclaves, such as Haiti's Cité Soleil, are at risk for nonpartner sexual violence (NPSV) by multiple perpetrators, and subsequently, psychological trauma and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS. These biopsychosocial risks suggest that NPSV victims may benefit from an adapted evidence-based intervention for sexually transmitted infection (EBI-STI) that includes a trauma component. Yet there is a dearth of knowledge on trauma symptoms experienced by victims in Haiti. We administered a Haitian Kreyòl version of Trauma Symptom Checklist (TSC-40), including its subscales (depression, dissociation, anxiety, sexual problems, sleep disturbance, sexual abuse trauma) to women in Cité Soleil, comparing victims' scores (n = 54) with those of nonvictims (n = 179). After controlling for child sexual abuse, arrest, transactional sex, and sociodemographics, being a victim was associated with higher scores on the full TSC-40, and subscales of anxiety and sexual abuse trauma index. These increased scores of victims underscore the need to incorporate trauma in adaptation of EBI-STI for Haitian NPSV victims like our sample.

Language: en

Keywords

Haitian women; nonpartner sexual violence; Trauma Symptom Checklist (TSC-40); trauma-informed care