Citation

Hannan SM, Zimnick J, Park C. J. Aggression Maltreat. Trauma 2021; 30(5): 586-604.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10926771.2020.1796871

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The overarching goals of the current study were to investigate the roles of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, rumination, and institutional betrayal (e.g., feeling betrayed/harmed by a trusted institution following a traumatic event) following unwanted sexual experiences. Our sample included 332 undergraduate students from a private Eastern U.S. college; data were collected cross-sectionally.

RESULTS indicated that many participants (41.6%) reported experiencing at least one unwanted sexual experience since the age of 14. Institutional betrayal predicted PTSD symptoms even after controlling for lifetime history of non-sexual trauma (p<.001). While high rumination scores and institutional betrayal independently predicted PTSD symptoms, their interaction (i.e., moderation) was not significant (p=.361). Finally, history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) moderated the relationship between history of adolescent/adult rape and institutional betrayal, such that individuals with histories of both CSA and adolescent/adult rape reported the highest institutional betrayal (p<.05). Implications of study findings and avenues for future research are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

college students; institutional betrayal; posttraumatic stress disorder; rumination; sexual violence; trauma