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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders are a significant comorbid concern among sexual assault survivors. Thus, underlying risk and protective factors are critical to investigate in understanding how to prevent this comorbidity.
METHOD: The current study assessed potential moderating effects of coping self-efficacy (CSE) and emotion dysregulation on the association between sexual assault-related PTSD symptom severity and drug use severity in a sample of college women. In this study, 518 female undergraduate students completed self-report measures of nonconsensual sexual experiences, PTSD symptoms, CSE, emotion dysregulation, and drug use severity.
RESULTS: Of these participants, 287 women reported at least 1 incident of attempted or completed rape. We found evidence of a significant moderation effect, suggesting that high levels of CSE and low levels of emotion dysregulation reduce the likelihood of drug use issues for female sexual assault survivors.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that assessment tools, interventions, and trauma-related policies should target CSE and emotion dysregulation in attenuating the risk of drug use for women with assault-related PTSD symptoms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Language: en |