Social Reaction Toward the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals are at an increased risk of experiencing sexual violence (SV). Social reactions received upon disclosure of SV impact survivors' mental health, and this may be more extreme when social reactions are provided by other SGM individuals. The purpose of the current study was to understand the SV disclosure experiences of SGM young adults, including the identity of disclosure recipients and the quality of the social reactions received by SGM and cisgender/heterosexual disclosure recipients. Additionally, the current study sought to examine how the SGM identity of the disclosure recipient and the quality of the social reactions received were associated with mental health outcomes (depression, post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], and alcohol use) among SGM SV survivors. SGM-identifying participants (N = 110) completed a 10-min survey on Qualtrics that was distributed through Prime Panels. Results revealed that 83% of participants (SGM survivors of SV) disclosed their SV experience to other SGM individuals. SGM disclosure recipients provided more positive social reactions and fewer negative social reactions than cisgender/heterosexual disclosure recipients. Regression models indicated that positive social reactions from cisgender/heterosexual recipients were associated with a decrease in depression scores. Negative social reactions from SGM recipients were associated with an increase in depression scores. Unexpectedly, positive social reactions from SGM recipients, while negative social reactions from cisgender/heterosexual recipients, were associated with an increase in PTSD scores. No associations were found between social reactions and alcohol use. Findings highlight the importance of social reactions and disclosure experiences on SGM survivors' mental health and mitigation opportunities to improve these disclosure experiences.

Reports an error in "Sexual Assault-Characteristics Effects on PTSD and Psychosocial Mediators: A Cluster-Analysis Approach to Sexual Assault Types" by Liana C. Peter-Hagene and Sarah E. Ullman (Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, Advanced Online Publication, Aug 18, 2014, np). In the article, there was an error in the abstract. The second to last sentence should have read, "The effect of assault-characteristics clusters on Time 2 PTSD was mediated by Time 1 self-blame and turning against social reactions." (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2014-33772-001.) Using cluster analysis, we investigated the effects of assault characteristics (i.e., level of violence, subjective distress, alcohol consumption, perpetrator identity) on PTSD symptoms, and whether these effects are mediated by postassault social and psychological reactions. A large community sample of women sexual assault survivors completed 2 mail surveys at a 1-year interval. In line with prior research, cluster analyses revealed the existence of 3 general categories of sexual assault, which we described as "high violence," "alcohol-related," and "moderate sexual severity." Alcohol-related assaults resulted in fewer PTSD symptoms than high-violence assaults at Time 1, but not at Time 2. Alcohol-related and violent assaults resulted in more PTSD symptoms than moderate-severity assaults at both times. The effect of assault-characteristics clusters on Time 2 PTSD was mediated by Time 1 self-blame and turning against social reactions. The importance of considering effects of violence and alcohol consumption during the assault to better understand postassault PTSD, including implications for theory and practice, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Sexual assault can have a detrimental impact on women's mental, physical, sexual, and interpersonal health and well-being. After experiencing sexual assault, 74% to 88% of individuals disclose the assault to someone they trust. After such disclosures, individuals experience both perceived positive and negative reactions. While positive reactions may be protective and aid in recovery, negative reactions can contribute to feelings of self-blame and maladaptive beliefs about the cause of the assault. Previous studies have shown independent associations between social reactions, negative cognitions, and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) following sexual assault. However, prior research has not explored the joint role of social reactions and posttraumatic cognitions in relationship to PTSS and sexual assertiveness. Moreover, the mechanism regarding these associations is not well established. The present study tested a path model of the effects of social reactions (positive and negative) to disclosure of sexual assault on posttraumatic cognitions, PTSS, and sexual assertiveness in college women. It was hypothesized that posttraumatic cognitions would mediate the relationship between social reactions and both sexual assertiveness and PTSS. A total of 102 college women participated in the study and completed measures of Sexual Experiences, Social Reactions, Posttraumatic Cognitions, PTSS, and Sexual Assertiveness. Results indicated that negative social reactions were indirectly associated with sexual assertiveness through posttraumatic cognitions. Social reactions were indirectly associated with PTSS partially through posttraumatic cognitions. Furthermore, there was a direct relationship between negative social reactions and PTSS. Positive social reactions were not significantly associated with outcome variables. Results highlight the influential nature of negative social reactions and posttraumatic cognitions. The importance of educating bystanders on the influence of social reactions is further discussed.

In recent years, social media has become an important platform for sexual violence survivors to disclose their experiences and seek support. Since most research has focused on social reactions to in-person disclosures, less is known about social reactions in online spaces and how they relate to survivors' mental health. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to explore the aftermath of social media disclosures, focusing on the social reactions they evoke from others and how survivors perceive these as related to their recovery and well-being. A secondary aim was to explore potential sex differences in disclosures and social reactions, which remains a relatively unexplored area. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 sexual violence survivors, 9 women, and 3 men, and the data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Five themes were developed: positive social reactions, healing, negative social reactions, losing control of the narrative, and setbacks in recovery. While all participants articulated experiencing validating and affirming responses that facilitated their recovery, many also described negative social reactions, including disbelief, rejection, and gossip, which hindered their healing process. Gender norms significantly influenced social reactions, with male survivors often facing skepticism and minimization rooted in societal expectations around masculinity. The findings highlight the dual role of social media as a source of empowerment and vulnerability. Furthermore, participants described healing after sexual victimization as a relational, complex, and nonlinear journey, emphasizing the importance of fostering an empathetic and inclusive environment that validates survivors' voices and actively supports their healing.

Researchers using the Social Reactions Questionnaire (SRQ; Ullman, 2000) have documented links between women's perceptions of social reactions following sexual assault and trauma-related distress (e.g., self-blame, problem drinking, and posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD] symptoms). The SRQ has been used primarily with female sexual assault victims with instructions to think about reactions from other people told about the assault. Research has generally relied on cross-sectional methods and assumed that social reactions lead to trauma-related outcomes. Reliance on cross-sectional methods has impeded testing assumptions about directionality (e.g., trauma-related distress might increase negative social reactions from others). Furthermore, links between victims' reports of negative social reactions and distress might reflect an overall negative reporting bias. The current study examined women's perceptions of social reactions for an incident of intimate partner abuse (IPA) reported to law enforcement. At a baseline interview (within approximately 28 days of the IPA incident), we assessed demographic factors, characteristics of the IPA, and social support as well as depression and PTSD symptom severity. One year later, PTSD symptom severity consistently predicted women's reports of negative social reactions from others, though not positive social reactions. This research advances understanding of social reactions and points to the role that PTSD symptom severity may have in contributing to social reactions, not only being a consequence of social reactions.

In this study, 102 rape survivors were interviewed about the social reactions they received from family and friends post-rape. Results supported Ullman's (1996b) conclusion that the overall contribution of positive social reaction (e.g., providing support, listening, believing) on victims' recovery is negligible, but that negative social reactions (e.g., blaming) hinder recovery. In contrast to Ullman's (1996b) work, this research also examined whether rape victims have similar perceptions as to what constitutes a "positive" and "negative" social reaction. Results indicated that victims often agree as to what reactions are healing (positive), but that they do not agree as to what is hurtful (negative). By taking victims' perceptions into account, this study was able to compare the relative contributions of social reactions that were considered healing, social reactions that were considered hurtful, and the absence of social reactions. Results indicated that survivors who had someone believe their account of what happened or were allowed to talk about the assault--and considered these reactions to be healing-had fewer emotional and physical health problems than victims who considered these reactions hurtful, or victims who did not experience these reactions at all. Implications for future research on social reactions are discussed.

Prior studies indicate that sexual assault survivor posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is influenced by the social reactions (e.g., belief and blame) and perceived helpfulness (e.g., empathy, effectiveness) of informal support providers (SPs; i.e., family, friends, and partners). This study examined how SPs' social reactions and perceived helpfulness impacted female sexual assault survivor PTSD among an ethnically diverse sample of 432 pairs of sexual assault survivors and their SPs. Path models were run separately for survivors and SPs. In the survivor model, SP's perceived ineffectiveness was significantly related to more unsupportive acknowledgment and turning against reactions, and perceived empathy was significantly related to more unsupportive acknowledgment reactions. Both turning against and unsupportive acknowledgment reactions were related to greater survivor PTSD. In the SP model, greater SP confusion about how to help the survivor was related to marginally less SP unsupportive acknowledgment and more turning against social reactions made to survivors. Greater SP empathy toward the survivor was also related to significantly less SP unsupportive acknowledgment and turning against social reactions. Finally, SP turning against social reactions was related to marginally more survivor PTSD symptoms. Results suggest that longitudinal research is needed to explore further how helping perceptions relate to survivor PTSD from both survivor and SP perspectives to inform informal support network interventions. Interventions to increase empathy toward sexual assault survivors and teach SPs how to avoid responding with negative social reactions are needed.

Sexual assault and intimate partner violence (IPV) are common experiences in women, but few studies have examined correlates of social reactions experienced by victims telling others about assault. This systematic review identified 30 studies through searches of research databases on correlates of social reactions to disclosure of sexual assault or IPV in samples of adult victims or disclosure recipients. Studies showed evidence of greater negative social reactions for Black and Hispanic victims, less educated, and bisexual victims. More extensive trauma histories in victims were related to receipt of greater negative social reactions, whereas assault characteristics (e.g., victim–offender relationship, alcohol use, perpetrator violence during assault) were sometimes associated with negative reactions. In terms of postassault factors, more psychological symptoms, self-blame, avoidance coping, less perceived control, and less posttraumatic growth were related to more negative social reactions. Disclosure characteristics, telling informal sources, and telling more sources were related to more positive reactions, whereas telling both formal and informal sources was related to negative reactions. Demographic, attitudinal, and relational factors were related to disclosure recipients’ intended social reactions. Future research needs to examine how various factors relate to social reactions in the context of theory, and clinical treatment and interventions should use this information to identify and intervene with victims to reduce negative social reactions and their psychological impacts and to increase positive social reactions particularly from informal support sources.

<p>The #MeToo movement raised awareness on social media surrounding the frequency of sexual assault and harassment and inspired calls for widespread action and societal change (Bogen et al., 2021). Survivors of sexual assault and harassment used the hashtag #MeToo to disclose their personal experiences and engage with the movement on social media (Nutbeam & Mereish, 2021). Some scholarly #MeToo movement studies analyzed engagement with the hashtag on Twitter as a ‘social reaction,' a term referring to how people respond to disclosures of sexual assault (Ullman, 2000). However, no previous studies exclusively analyzed direct replies to disclosures using the hashtag. Social reactions have tangible impacts on outcomes for survivors of sexual assault, with positive and negative reactions directly correlated with positive and negative outcomes (Ullman, 2000). While mostly positive, there was an increase in negative and antagonistic social reactions to #MeToo on Twitter over time (Bogen et al., 2019; Bogen et al., 2021; Lindgren, 2019; Schneider & Carpenter, 2020). This pilot study applied primary data qualitative content analysis to direct replies (N = 268) to tweets (N = 19) disclosing personal experiences of sexual victimization using the hashtag #MeToo, published on Twitter between late-2021 and mid-2022; these replies were considered to be social reactions in the present study. The researcher manually collected the tweets and replies using Twitter's Advanced Search function and applied purposive sampling. Informed by Bogen et al. (2021) and Schneider and Carpenter (2020), the replies were coded for themes and subthemes of Positive and Negative social reactions. The study used a mixed inductive and preconstructed codebook (Bogen et al., 2019) to gauge changes since earlier studies (Bogen et al., 2021; Schneider & Carpenter, 2020) and show potential gaps in public knowledge surrounding appropriate responses to survivors. Similar to the previous studies, the coding process and results showed that current social reactions to #MeToo disclosures were primarily Positive (77.6%) with some Negative reactions (5.9%). In addition to Positive and Negative replies, two notable coding categories that were not present in earlier studies emerged due to frequency: Personal Experience (11.6%) and Unclear (4.9%) social reactions. Future research should focus on the prevalence of Personal Experience replies to #MeToo disclosure tweets and how this social reaction impacts survivors, as well as how social reactions to online disclosures impact survivors more generally (Bogen et al., 2021; Schneider & Carpenter, 2020). The frequency of Negative replies such as those coded as Egocentric or Distracting also highlighted how social reactions can unintentionally be perceived as negative (Bogen et al., 2019); future efforts should focus on education surrounding appropriate responses toward survivors. Future studies should also inform the development of flagging mechanisms on social media platforms such as Twitter, to further protect survivors online from both intentionally and unintentionally negative responses. </p>

Many survivors of sexual violence have come forward to disclose their experiences on social media. The disclosure has generated positive and negative social reactions. Social media users either victimize sexual violence survivors or advocate against it, according to previous studies. This study aims to explore Twitter users’ social reactions to sexual violence disclosure and their narratives. This study used social network analysis and analyzed 1,678 tweets extracted from the Twitter search function. This study discovers two major themes and twelve subthemes of social reactions. New subthemes emerged: condemnation, curiosity, and sharing experiences (positive social reactions) and humor (negative social reactions). The narratives within negative social reactions brought digital harm to sexual violence survivors with prejudice, hostility, and normalization of sexual violence. Meanwhile, positive social reactions represent resistance by challenging harmful users and the authority and retelling sexual violence experiences to a bigger audience. This study provides input to design policy interventions to guide social media users in responding to sexual violence disclosures.

<p>The #MeToo movement raised awareness on social media surrounding the frequency of sexual assault and harassment and inspired calls for widespread action and societal change (Bogen et al., 2021). Survivors of sexual assault and harassment used the hashtag #MeToo to disclose their personal experiences and engage with the movement on social media (Nutbeam & Mereish, 2021). Some scholarly #MeToo movement studies analyzed engagement with the hashtag on Twitter as a ‘social reaction,' a term referring to how people respond to disclosures of sexual assault (Ullman, 2000). However, no previous studies exclusively analyzed direct replies to disclosures using the hashtag. Social reactions have tangible impacts on outcomes for survivors of sexual assault, with positive and negative reactions directly correlated with positive and negative outcomes (Ullman, 2000). While mostly positive, there was an increase in negative and antagonistic social reactions to #MeToo on Twitter over time (Bogen et al., 2019; Bogen et al., 2021; Lindgren, 2019; Schneider & Carpenter, 2020). This pilot study applied primary data qualitative content analysis to direct replies (N = 268) to tweets (N = 19) disclosing personal experiences of sexual victimization using the hashtag #MeToo, published on Twitter between late-2021 and mid-2022; these replies were considered to be social reactions in the present study. The researcher manually collected the tweets and replies using Twitter's Advanced Search function and applied purposive sampling. Informed by Bogen et al. (2021) and Schneider and Carpenter (2020), the replies were coded for themes and subthemes of Positive and Negative social reactions. The study used a mixed inductive and preconstructed codebook (Bogen et al., 2019) to gauge changes since earlier studies (Bogen et al., 2021; Schneider & Carpenter, 2020) and show potential gaps in public knowledge surrounding appropriate responses to survivors. Similar to the previous studies, the coding process and results showed that current social reactions to #MeToo disclosures were primarily Positive (77.6%) with some Negative reactions (5.9%). In addition to Positive and Negative replies, two notable coding categories that were not present in earlier studies emerged due to frequency: Personal Experience (11.6%) and Unclear (4.9%) social reactions. Future research should focus on the prevalence of Personal Experience replies to #MeToo disclosure tweets and how this social reaction impacts survivors, as well as how social reactions to online disclosures impact survivors more generally (Bogen et al., 2021; Schneider & Carpenter, 2020). The frequency of Negative replies such as those coded as Egocentric or Distracting also highlighted how social reactions can unintentionally be perceived as negative (Bogen et al., 2019); future efforts should focus on education surrounding appropriate responses toward survivors. Future studies should also inform the development of flagging mechanisms on social media platforms such as Twitter, to further protect survivors online from both intentionally and unintentionally negative responses. </p>

The purpose of this study was to evaluate an intervention (Supporting Survivors and Self [SSS]) created to increase positive social reactions and decrease negative social reactions to sexual assault and partner violence disclosures among informal support disclosure recipients. Participants were 1,268 college students from a medium-sized New England university who completed an online baseline survey and were assigned to either the treatment or control condition. The SSS intervention trained potential informal supports on what to say and not to say to disclosure recipients. Six months after the SSS intervention, participants in both conditions completed the follow-up survey online. Although intentions to provide positive social reactions significantly increased among participants in the treatment group compared with the control group and there were marginally significant effects in the anticipated directions for alcohol-specific intended social reactions, no overall difference was observed across conditions in actual social reactions provided. Moderation analyses suggested that, in general, the SSS intervention was more effective on various outcomes for students who were younger, male, non-White, sexual minorities, and/or non-victims. Moderation analyses also suggested that the intervention varied in efficacy depending on the circumstances of the disclosure. Despite the mixed outcomes of the SSS intervention, these data suggest that the SSS intervention was effective in improving social reactions for some students and under some circumstances. Future research is needed to further refine the SSS intervention to bolster its effectiveness in reducing negative social reactions and increasing positive social reactions for all students.

Background: Suicide loss is often concealed. While initial evidence suggests that disclosure is important for healthy grieving, observed beneficial effects may depend on social reactions. Aim: The current study aimed to identify social reactions and associated consequences experienced by persons who lost a loved one to suicide (i.e., suicide loss survivors). Method: We conducted qualitative interviews with 22 female adult suicide loss survivors focusing on social reactions after suicide loss. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: When talking about their loss with others, suicide loss survivors experienced a broad range of social reactions including compassionate and supportive responses, speechlessness and insecurity, curiosity and gossip, stigmatization, and grieving expectations. Depending on these social reactions, disclosing suicide loss was associated with both negative and positive long-term effects. Limitations: The findings are limited to the current female sample. Conclusion: Interventions that help suicide loss survivors in finding supportive confidants, combined with public interventions to decrease public suicide stigma and improve the public's readiness to provide helpful support to suicide loss survivors, could improve grieving outcomes among this group.

<p>In 2017, the #MeToo movement went viral on social media (Bogen et al., 2021). Survivors of sexual assault and harassment shared their experiences on Twitter using the hashtag #MeToo (Nutbeam & Mereish, 2021) to raise awareness of the frequency of sexual assault and harassment and inspired calls for social change (Bogen et al., 2021). Since the movement's height, there has been considerable scholarly engagement with #MeToo (Quan-Haase et al., 2021), including research on the use of the hashtag for sexual assault disclosures and the ‘social reactions’ to those disclosures (Bogen et al., 2019; Bogen et al., 2021; Lindgren, 2019; Schneider & Carpenter, 2020). Social reactions refer to how people respond to a survivor’s disclosure of sexual victimization, including positive responses such as emotional support or offering resources and negative responses like victim-blaming (Ullman, 2000). Informed by Bogen et al. (2021) and Schneider and Carpenter’s (2020) studies on social reactions to #MeToo, this qualitative pilot study aimed to capture current themes in the social reactions to #MeToo sexual assault disclosures, as well as how those reactions may have changed over time. The pilot study applied small-scale, primary data qualitative content analysis to replies (<em>N </em>= 268) to #MeToo disclosure tweets (<em>N </em>= 19) that were published between late 2021 and mid-2022. The replies were coded for social reaction themes and subthemes based on the two aforementioned social reaction studies, which analyzed tweets using the hashtag #MeToo related to issues of sexual assault and harassment, the movement more broadly, and reactions to specific disclosures. While earlier studies found primarily positive social reactions to the #MeToo hashtag (Bogen et al., 2019; Bogen et al., 2021; Lindgren, 2019; Schneider & Carpenter, 2020), the potential for negative and largely anonymous reactions such as trolling remained a concern (Schneider & Carpenter, 2020). The tangible impacts of social reactions on survivors of sexual assault are known, with negative responses influencing worse outcomes following an assault (Ullman, 2000). Far less is known about the impacts of online disclosure and its unique risk factors for harming survivors who disclose and survivors who witness the responses (Bogen et al., 2019; Bogen et al., 2021; Schneider & Carpenter, 2020). The current study showed the importance of ongoing analysis of social reactions to disclosures of sexual victimization, specifically surrounding online social media platforms such as Twitter. This pilot study strove to centre the voices and experiences of survivors of sexual victimization (Gill, 2018) to identify current social reactions to #MeToo disclosure tweets. The current research could inform future efforts that will be needed to improve online responses and promote more positive outcomes to empower survivors of sexual assault (Sherman et al., 2019). </p>

Using cluster analysis, we investigated the effects of assault characteristics (i.e., level of violence, subjective distress, alcohol consumption, perpetrator identity) on PTSD symptoms, and whether these effects are mediated by postassault social and psychological reactions. A large community sample of women sexual assault survivors completed 2 mail surveys at a 1-year interval. In line with prior research, cluster analyses revealed the existence of 3 general categories of sexual assault, which we described as "high violence," "alcohol-related," and "moderate sexual severity." Alcohol-related assaults resulted in fewer PTSD symptoms than high-violence assaults at Time 1, but not at Time 2. Alcohol-related and violent assaults resulted in more PTSD symptoms than moderate-severity assaults at both times. The effect of assault-characteristics clusters on Time 2 PTSD was mediated by Time 1 self-blame and turning against social reactions. The importance of considering effects of violence and alcohol consumption during the assault to better understand postassault PTSD, including implications for theory and practice, are discussed.