Assault Experiences Research Articles

The Prevalence and Psychological Cost of Interpersonal Violence in Graduate and Law School.

There is a rich research literature linking interpersonal violence to mental health disorders among undergraduate students. However, scholars know less about the prevalence and consequences of victimization among students enrolled in postbaccalaureate programs. Graduate and law students are uniquely vulnerable in their dependence on programs for financial support and career advancement, and they are more isolated than undergraduates. We explore the experiences of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and stalking in a sample of 1,149 male and female master's, doctoral, and law students at a southeastern public university. First, the current study estimates prevalence rates of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and stalking across participant characteristics such as gender, race, sexual orientation, and degree program. We find higher rates of sexual harassment among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, or asexual (LGBTQ+) women and multiracial students and higher rates of coercion and stalking among women. Second, following a longstanding literature on experiences with violence among undergraduate women, we demonstrate the effects of interpersonal violence on depression and anxiety. A series of multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) suggests a heightened risk of mental health disturbances among law students, women, and LGBTQ+ students. Importantly, interpersonal violence partially explains these heightened levels of depression and anxiety in these groups. Given increasing rates of enrollment in postbaccalaureate programs, our findings suggest an unfulfilled need for the assessment, prevention, and treatment of individuals regarding the experiences of interpersonal violence and mental illness among graduate and law students. Student services should develop education and prevention programming for students and faculty to alleviate the occurrence and consequences of victimization while being mindful of the unique experiences of sexually and racially minoritized students.

Using the health belief model to predict those seeking treatment for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder among premenopausal women

ObjectiveHypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) was the most common subtype of female sexual dysfunction; however, little was known about why Chinese women with HSDD were willing to seek medical help. This study aimed to identify predictive factors of seeking treatment for HSDD. Materials and methods260 outpatient premenopausal women who met the DSM-IV-TR criteria for HSDD for at least 6 months were recruited. All cases were divided into groups of willing to be treated and unwilling to be treated. The main outcome measures in this study were the Sexual Desire Relationship Distress Scale (SDRDS) score, physical and psychosexual characteristics, and Health Belief Model (HBM) variables. ResultsWomen with willingness to be treated were significantly associated with fewer experiences of sexual assault (P = 0.033), longer relationship with a partner (P = 0.039), greater agreement about the severity of mental health injury as a result of HSDD (P = 0.008), more cues to action of sexual treatment (P < 0.05), higher self-efficacy (P < 0.05), and lesser treatment barriers including embarrassment about discussing desire problems with a physician (P = 0.026) and partner disagreement (P = 0.005). A relationship of more than 36 months (OR = 7.92), cues to action (OR = 1.70), and self-efficacy (OR = 1.76) could significantly predict willingness to be treated. ConclusionsHBM was useful in predicting treatment intent in premenopausal women with HSDD. These findings suggest ways to increase the rate of those seeking treatment in the future.

The Inner Working of Trauma: A Qualitative Assessment of Experiences of Trauma, Intergenerational Family Dynamics, and Psychological Well-Being in Women With HIV in South Carolina.

Women with HIV are more likely to have a history of traumatic and stressful life experiences. The current study examines experiences of traumatic and stressful life events, issues co-occurring with experiences of trauma, and intergenerational family dynamics regarding trauma and psychological well-being in women with HIV. The study was guided by the theoretical approach of an integrative translational model that incorporates trauma-related factors into a psychosocial framework. Data were collected from interviews with 20 women with HIV and analyzed for thematic categories. Thematic analysis indicated that traumatic life events of women with HIV included experiences of loss, sexual assault, and homelessness. Women with HIV also experienced issues co-occurring with trauma, including substance use and mental illness. The current study adds to the existing body of research by including an analysis of intergenerational family dynamics and psychological well-being. Implications for health care professionals and recommendations for translating research into practice are also discussed. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 57(4), 23-31.].

Associations Between Unintended Pregnancy, Domestic Violence, and Sexual Assault in a Population of Queensland Women

This study aimed to establish the proportion of women seeking information regarding unintended pregnancy in the context of domestic violence (DV) and/or sexual assault (SA) experiences in Queensland. Mental health, sociodemographic variables, and gestation at first and repeated contacts were examined for 6249 women primarily seeking information regarding abortion options during an unintended pregnancy over the 5-year period from July 2012 to June 2017. Reports of DV and SA and associations with mental health issues increased significantly across the 5 years. First contact rates of disclosure were 12.2% for DV and 3% for SA, and higher among repeat contacts (38.1% for DV and 14.1% for SA), with recurring contact facilitating violence disclosure. Restricting access to abortions in the context of violence impedes a woman’s agency in attempts to separate from violence and highlights the need for safe, supportive, and accessible services, to assist in screening and assisting with violence.

#sendeanlat (#tellyourstory): Text Analyses of Tweets About Sexual Assault Experiences

On 11 February 2015, a 20-year-old university student, Ozgecan Aslan, was violently murdered in an attempted rape in Mersin, southern Turkey. This event led to a mass Twitter protest in the country. Women across the country started sharing the hashtag #sendeanlat (“#tellyourstory” in English). In the current exploratory study, 164,279 original tweets were analyzed using the text analytic approach called the Meaning Extraction Method. Results revealed the key themes of reactions to victim blaming, honor culture/namus, assault experiences, social media, and women’s responsibility. Policy, media, and mental-health-related implications and future research directions are discussed.

Introducing a Conversational Model Therapy Approach as a Team Model of Care: The Clinician Experience in a Sexual Assault Service

This article examines clinician experience in adopting a contemporary psychodynamic model of care by exploring the experiences and perspectives of staff at an Australian hospital-based sexual assault service (SAS), reflecting then on implications for how to best engage clinicians in a model of care change and training. The Conversational Model of Therapy (CMT) is a contemporary psychodynamic approach integrating evidence from developmental psychology, neuroscience and trauma. Training was provided in the CMT approach to Short-Term Intensive Psychodynamic Psychotherapy seeking to enable the service to better provide for the needs of adult clients with less recent sexual assault experiences and/or those able to receive a short-term psychotherapy. Five semi-structured individual interviews and one focus group (with four participants) were undertaken to identify SAS staff perceptions of their experiences after initial training of up to 13 sessions with CMT. Thematic analysis was performed to identify, analyse and report patterns in the responses with the following themes emerging: the challenges staff face in providing a service to clients; coping mechanisms staff utilise in their work; the current service structure and how this compares with their experiences of CMT, and; feelings and thoughts on SAS staff being evaluated. Findings provide evidence that the majority of staff understood the need for change and were able to undertake training towards this due to effective coping mechanisms within their work and good support from within their team. The research also highlights the need to ensure effective training to evaluate participants’ understanding of the model being taught. In the context of training experience elsewhere, learning and synthesis of all of the knowledge relevant to a psychodynamic model of care may require experiential learning through supervision of audio-recorded sessions, although this has challenges in the SAS context.

28 Comorbid Psychological Factors in Emergency Department Patients With Low Risk Chest Pain Associated With Anxiety

Anxiety is thought to be a significant contributor to chest pain symptoms in approximately 40% of patients with low risk chest pain seen in the emergency department (ED). The validated Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale - Anxiety subscale (HADS-A) has been used as an anxiety screening tool in this population. These patients have been shown to have persistent anxiety symptoms at follow-up and significantly higher ED utilization. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of abnormal anxiety levels in a cohort of low-risk chest pain patients and characterize their comorbid psychological contributors. We hypothesized that those with abnormal anxiety scores would have worse concomitant depression, optimism and pain catastrophizing scores in addition to experiencing more life trauma. This was a pre-planned secondary analysis of a single-center, prospective observational cohort study of ED subjects with low risk chest pain. Eligible subjects between 18 and 70 years old with no history of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and a physician-reported HEART score < 4, were enrolled. The HADS-A was used to stratify participants into 2 groups: Low Anxiety (score<8) and High Anxiety (score≥8). Outcomes assessed included concomitant depression via the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale - Depression subscale (HADS-D), previous trauma (Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire), optimism (Life Optimism Test-Revised), and pain catastrophizing (Pain Catastrophizing Scale). These groups were analyzed and compared using t-tests for continuous data and chi-square for proportional/categorical data. Of 442 screened subjects, 304 met enrollment criteria and 163 (36.8%) gave informed consent. Seventy-six (47%) were stratified into the High Anxiety group with a score≥8. There were no differences in baseline demographics between groups. Overall, there was a moderate positive correlation between HADS-A and HADS-D scores with a Pearson’s R of 0.519. Thirty percent of all subjects had abnormal depression scores ≥8 on the HADS-D and 35 subjects (45%) had both abnormal anxiety as well as depression. Mean depression scores were significantly different between the low anxiety and high anxiety groups (3.64, 95% CI 2.17 to 5.10). Traumatic experiences of assault with a weapon (p=0.000), physical assault (p=0.012), sexual assault (p=0.046), witnessing fire (p=0.034), natural disaster (p=0.035) were all associated with abnormal levels of anxiety. However, only sexual assault (p=0.030) and other unwanted sexual encounters (p=0.040) were associated with abnormal levels of depression. Optimism was negatively correlated with both anxiety (R=-0.489) and depression (R=-0.504). Additionally, optimism was significantly lower for subjects with either abnormal anxiety (mean difference of 3.86, 95% CI 2.46 to 5.26) or abnormal depression (mean difference 4.32, 95% CI 2.80 to 5.83). Pain catastrophizing was also significantly higher in subjects with either abnormal anxiety or depression (p=0.000). The prevalence of abnormal levels of anxiety in our low risk chest pain cohort was 47%. These patients were more likely to have concurrent symptoms of depression, multiple traumatic exposures, a less optimistic outlook, and a pain catastrophizing phenotype. These data indicate there may be an opportunity to address these problems in many low risk chest pain patients as a best practice.

Applying an occupational perspective to women’s experiences of life after sexual assault: A narrative review

ABSTRACTThe negative consequences of sexual assault on women’s health are well-researched. Given that a reciprocal relationship between health and occupation exists, it is likely that the consequences of sexual assault extend beyond health to include consequences for women’s occupations. However, whether and how women’s occupations are changed by an experience of sexual assault is not yet well understood. The purpose of this narrative overview was to provide a comprehensive description of what is currently known about the occupational aftermath (i.e., changes to individuals’ occupational lives after trauma) of sexual assault that occurs in adulthood. An occupational perspective was used to reframe the findings presented in 26 articles describing longitudinal studies of women’s experiences of life after sexual assault. Findings suggest that although changes to women’s occupations after sexual assault are addressed in the literature, the understanding of the occupational aftermath of sexual assault as presented is narrow and partial. Insufficient consideration is given to the breadth and depth of the daily occupations in which women might engage after sexual assault, as well as to the variety of ways in which women’s occupational engagement might change after sexual assault. Further nuanced exploration of the occupational aftermath of sexual assault is warranted and necessary to develop a deeper understanding of the changes to occupation that might occur after sexual assault, as well as to illuminate the reasons for and consequences of these changes to occupation.

Embodied Islamophobia: lived experiences of anti-Muslim discourses and assaults in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

ABSTRACTThis article examines embodied Islamophobia and aims to contribute to the scholarship on geographies of Islamophobia, as well as extend discussions on embodied geopolitics. Drawing on feminist work on emotional geopolitics, and Pain and Staeheli’s ‘intimacy-geopolitics’ (2014), I propose an analytical distinction between embodied and systematic Islamophobia. While systematic Islamophobia refers to the discursive and institutional dimensions, embodied Islamophobia signifies the ultimately lived and emotional experiences of anti-Muslim assaults in the context of the everyday. I argue that these are two related but distinct realms and that ‘intimacy-geopolitics’ implies the psychosocial effects of geopolitical phenomena. The article features from a phenomenological perspective the epistemological and political importance to call attention to how embodied Islamophobia effects young Muslims’ sense of self and belonging. Through person-centered ethnography, the article brings to forefront the very subjectivities and bodies that are the objects of anti-Muslim assault and violence. Focusing on the experiences of two siblings allows for in-depth consideration of the particular personal biographies and emotionally laden memories and experiences of growing up as Muslim in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the gendered dimension of Islamophobia, as well as how these connect to the city and broader geographies of Islamophobia and geopolitical events.

Awareness and support: students’ views about the prevention of sexual assault on UK campuses

Purpose Sexual assault is prevalent on UK University campuses, and prevention efforts are being increased. However, at present there is limited evidence about UK students’ attitudes towards sexual assault prevention and what they think should be done to effectively address the issue. The purpose of this paper is to explore these views to provide a foundation for the development of a new intervention. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional anonymous online survey was completed by 515 students (73 per cent women; M age: 21.56; 79 per cent heterosexual; and 82.9 per cent white). There were quantitative questions about experiences of sexual assault, attitudes towards sexual consent and victim blaming. Qualitative data were collected regarding participants’ views on what universities should do to target sexual assault. Findings In line with previous studies, the authors found evidence of commonplace and normalised sexual assault behaviours. Women had more positive attitudes towards explicit consent than men, and were less likely to blame victims of sexual assault who had been drinking. Consent behaviour was predicted by positive views towards consent and lower levels of blaming. Themes relating to “awareness”, “attitudes”, “environment” and “opposition” were identified in the qualitative data. Practical implications Findings highlight the importance of engaging with students to develop effective prevention measures. Students are likely to find university-led prevention strategies acceptable, but this topic needs to be addressed in the context of the prevailing culture, which may provide an environment where certain behaviours are tolerated. New prevention programmes need to treat the issue as one that is relevant to all students and not just target men as perpetrators and women as victims. Such strategies need to do more than treat this as an isolated issue, to which the solution is re-education about the meaning of consent. Originality/value There is at present a lack of research evidence about UK students’ views on sexual assault prevention. This exploratory survey highlights areas for consideration when developing new interventions.

Learning from Me Too.

For the past year, many around the world have said, "Me Too." Women, trans folks, and increasingly men have shared their experiences of sexual assault, harassment, and unhealthy power dynamics in their personal and professional relationships. These experiences were not a surprise to people in bioethics, especially as they relate to the control of women's bodies and behaviors that we have observed in medicine, law, and society. In The Hastings Center's work in reproductive contexts, I have learned about women whose reproductive decisions or choices are negatively affected by external forces-either by restrictive laws and policies, explicit counsel from their physicians, or implicit pressures placed on them by society. Any person with a uterus can be forced to take contraceptives if they want access to other medications that could harm a fetus, even when they are not sexually active with men. And some women of color are criminalized for miscarriages. How can those of us working in reproductive ethics be even more attentive to these experiences and to the impact of gendered power dynamics on reproductive decision-making?

Alcohol Use and Sexual and Physical Assault Victimization Among University Students: Three Years of Follow-Up.

The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of sexual and physical assault among university students and its association with alcohol use. The research is part of a wider cohort study (Spit for ScienceTM) at a large public university in the United States. The follow-up data include the first two cohorts (2011, 2012; n = 5,170). The dependent variables were victim of sexual assault and victim of physical assault. The independent variables were alcohol dependence and abuse according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.), cannabis use, residence, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and previous experience of sexual assault and/or physical assault. We used multilevel logistic regression for repeated measures. All data were analyzed using generalized linear mixed models. Incidence rates of sexual and physical assault (per 100 students a year) were 15.1 and 27.6 among nonabusers/dependents versus 36.4 and 56.7 among alcohol-dependent females at the first year, and 2.8 and 4.7 versus 7.7 and 23.1 at the third year; while in males, incident rates were 6.0 and 3.1 versus 18.5 and 66.6, and 2.3 and 7.4 versus 18.9 and 15.1, respectively. Our results show that alcohol abuse and dependence constitute risk factors to be victim of sexual assault in males (odds ratio [OR] = 2.21 and OR = 2.73) and alcohol dependence in females (OR = 2.16). Similarly, alcohol abuse and dependence are risk factors to physical assault among both males (OR = 1.52 and OR = 2.03) and females (OR = 1.70 and OR = 2.88). Ethnicity, sexual orientation, and whether the individual had been victimized in the past were associated with sexual assault. Regarding physical assault, cannabis use and past victimization are also risk factors. Our study has shown that assault victimization is strongly related to alcohol abuse and dependence diagnoses in both genders. Ethnicity and sexual orientation are also associated to both assaults. Our results show that incidence rates of both types of assaults were clearly higher in the first 6 months of university, probably explained by the novel and potentially risky environment.

Quantifying the magnitude and potential influence of missing data in campus sexual assault surveys: A systematic review of surveys, 2010–2016

ABSTRACTObjective: To understand how missing data may influence conclusions drawn from campus sexual assault surveys. Methods: We systematically reviewed 40 surveys from 2010–2016. We constructed a pseudo-population of the total population targeted across schools, creating records proportional to the respective response rate and reported sexual assault prevalence. We simulated the effects of 9 scenarios where the sexual assault prevalence among nonresponders differed from that of responders. Results: The surveys represented a total female undergraduate population of 317,387 with only 77,966 (24.6%) survey responses. Among responders, 20.4% reported experiences of sexual assault. However, prevalence of sexual assault could theoretically range from 5.0 to 80.4% under extreme assumptions about prevalence in nonresponders. Smaller, but still significant differences were observed with less extreme assumptions. Conclusions: Missing data are widespread in campus sexual assault surveys. Conclusions drawn from these incomplete data are highly sensitive to assumptions about the sexual assault prevalence among nonresponders.

Trajectories of Psychological Distress in Australians Living in Urban Poverty: The Impact of Interpersonal Trauma.

Childhood maltreatment and interpersonal trauma experience is an important factor underpinning the apparent perpetuation of the cycle of social disadvantage experienced by homeless adults. This paper aimed to examine longitudinal patterns of psychological distress in a sample of 1,504 socially disadvantaged adult participants from the Journeys Home Study in Australia. The current paper utilized the "conservation of resources" theory and the concept of "risk factor caravans" to investigate the nature and implications of childhood trauma in the context of homelessness. Growth mixture modeling revealed four distinct trajectories of psychological distress as measured by the Kessler 6 across six time points (covering a period of 2.5 years): chronic, escalating, attenuating, and resistant. Our results also indicated that experiences of different types of trauma during childhood were associated with these psychological distress trajectories. In particular, adults experiencing chronic psychological distress were significantly more likely than those exhibiting distress resistance to have experienced multiple and varied childhood maltreatment, adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 3.30, 95% CI [0.37, 6.05], p = .002. Furthermore, adult experiences of assault were found to be associated with psychological distress. These findings have important implications for mental health, as well as interventions aimed at breaking the cycle of urban poverty. Specific focus on interpersonal trauma vulnerabilities is important. Prioritizing socioecological stability, with mental health needs assessed on an individual level, may be most appropriate. This work also highlights the need to direct future attention to barriers to access and facilitation of social support services.

#MeToo? Legal Discourse and Everyday Responses to Sexual Violence

Legal consciousness scholars identify the ways in which law is referenced to authorize, define and evaluate behaviors and choices that occur far outside any formal legal framework. They define legality as the “meanings, sources of authority, and cultural practices that are commonly recognized as legal, regardless of who employs them or for what ends.” We use the idea of legality to argue that, in matters of sexual assault and rape, the limits of the law extend beyond the courtroom. Rather than simply influencing or guiding only those who are willing to consult the law in their efforts to seek justice, laws and legal discourse have the potential to frame and constrain any attempt to discuss experiences of sexual violence. #MeToo and other forms of “consciousness-raising” for sexual violence highlight the limiting effects of law and legal discourse on public discussion of sexual violence. We find that, paradoxically, in the case of sexual violence law has the capacity to undermine the goals and benefits of consciousness-raising approaches, privatizing the experience of sexual assault and silencing its victims.

Externalizing behavior problems are related to substance use in adolescents across six samples from Nordic countries.

The aim of this study is to investigate associations between use of cigarettes, cannabis, and alcohol (CCA) and psychosocial problems among adolescents with different cultural backgrounds living in Nordic countries. Data from six questionnaire-based surveys conducted in Denmark, Norway, and Greenland, with participants from different cultural and religious backgrounds, were compared. A total of 2212 adolescents between 15 and 18years of age participated in the study. The surveys were carried out nationally and in school settings. All adolescents answered a 12-item questionnaire (YouthMap12) with six questions identifying externalizing behavior problems and six questions identifying internalizing behavior problems, as well as four questions regarding childhood neglect and physical or sexual abuse, and questions about last month use of CCA. Externalizing behavior problems were strongly associated with all types of CCA use, while childhood history of abuse and neglect was associated with cigarette and cannabis use. The associations did not differ by sample. Despite differences between samples in use of CCA, national, cultural, and socioeconomic background, very similar associations were found between psychosocial problems and use of CCA. Our findings highlight the need to pay special attention to adolescents with externalizing behavior problems and experiences of neglect and assault in CCA prevention programs, across different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

MMPI-2-RF characteristics of veterans seeking treatment for military sexual trauma.

Military sexual trauma (MST) is defined as experiences of sexual assault or repeated, threatening, harassment during military service. MST events may not qualify within posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Criterion A, making symptoms associated with MST unique from trauma-related disorders. Little research has been done to understand those presenting for MST treatment. Thus, this article provides Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) scores of 33 U.S. veterans who experienced MST in an effort to better understand psychological and personality characteristics of this important and unique group of veterans. Our sample comprised mainly African American, female, U.S. Army veterans seeking treatment of MST at a Department of Veterans Affairs specialty clinic. A majority of participants reported an attempted or actual rape during their service, averaging 1.87 (SD = 1.33) MST events. The most common diagnoses assigned by diagnosticians at intake were PTSD, mood disorders, and personality disorders. With regard to MMPI-2-RF results, the sample generated elevated scores on somatic, mood, anxiety, and interpersonal dysfunction scales. Implications of these findings and areas of future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Sexual vs. Non-sexual trauma, sexual satisfaction and function, and mental health in female veterans

ABSTRACTTrauma in general, and sexual assault in particular, is associated with serious mental health and functional problems. The quality of sexual satisfaction/function may be particularly impacted by sexual assault, and such sexual problems may account for some of the broader mental health and functioning impairments in sexual assault survivors. Accordingly, we examined self-reports of sexual health and mental health in a sample of 255 female veterans in committed, monogamous relationships who provided data regarding sexual assault (n = 153) or nonsexual trauma (n = 102). Trauma type was not associated with differences in sexual function, but sexual trauma was associated with significantly lower sexual satisfaction, greater posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms, and higher suicidal ideation. Furthermore, the indirect effect of trauma type on all mental health outcomes was significant via sexual satisfaction but not via sexual function. Finally, trauma type moderated the association of sexual function with suicidality, such that the association was significantly positive in those with a history of sexual assault but nonsignificant in those with nonsexual trauma. These results suggest that (1) female veterans’ experience of sexual assault is related to sexual satisfaction, which in turn is related to mental health outcomes, and (2) a history of sexual assault may increase the importance of sexual functioning with regard to suicidality.

Pre-Assault Personality Predicts the Nature of Adverse Outcomes Among Sexual Assault Victims.

Exposure to sexual assault results in ongoing harms for women. After an assault, some women engage in higher levels of externalizing behaviors, such as problem drinking, and others experience higher levels of internalizing dysfunction, such as symptoms of anxiety and depression. We sought to understand the role of premorbid factors on the different post-assault experiences of women. We studied 1,929 women prospectively during a period of high risk for sexual assault (the first year of college): women were assessed in July before arriving at college and in April near the end of the school year. A premorbid personality disposition to act impulsively when distressed (negative urgency) interacted positively with sexual assault experience to predict subsequent increases in drinking behavior; a premorbid personality disposition toward internalizing dysfunction positively interacted with sexual assault experience to predict increased symptoms of anxiety and depression. Women with different personalities tend to experience different forms of post-assault consequences.

Trauma-Related Disclosure in Sexual Assault Survivors' Intimate Relationships: Associations With PTSD, Shame, and Partners' Responses.

Relative to survivors of other traumatic events, survivors of sexual assault have an increased likelihood of meeting criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They are also comparatively more likely to exhibit higher levels of PTSD symptom severity. Recent research has highlighted the importance of trauma-related disclosure within the context of intimate relationships for posttrauma functioning and recovery, but this phenomenon has yet to be examined specifically in sexual assault survivor samples. Accordingly, this study examines the association of PTSD symptom severity with disclosure about one's experience of sexual assault to one's intimate partner, as well as the association of such disclosure with trauma-related shame and perception of partners' negative and positive responses to trauma-related disclosure. A sample of 104 female participants who had disclosed their experience of sexual assault to their current romantic partner provided survey data. On average, these participants reported a moderate amount of trauma-related disclosure. Counter to hypotheses, level of engagement in trauma-related disclosure was not significantly correlated with PTSD symptom severity, shame, or perceived negative responses to disclosure. Only perceived positive responses to disclosure demonstrated a significant, bivariate association with overall level of engagement in trauma-related disclosure. Similarly, when trauma-related shame, negative responses, and positive responses were accounted for simultaneously, only positive responses were related to level of disclosure. Overall, results suggest that intimate relationships may serve as a unique context for disclosure about one's history of sexual assault, with perceived positive responses demonstrating particularly strong associations with level of engagement in trauma-related disclosure.