DOES THE STUDY OF VICTIMIZATION REVICTIMIZE THE VICTIMS

Although the number of questionnaire surveys examining the sequelae of prior sexual and physical victimization has increased over the last d ecade, little attention has been given to understanding the impact of such studies on participants. As part of a larger study of long-term e ffects of prior sexual and physical victimization, 500 randomly select ed women in an HMO received a comprehensive questionnaire including mu ltiple symptomatic distress measures and several items inquiring into previous history of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and neglect. They also completed a short rating scale asking about their reactions to completing the questionnaire. Despite the sensitive content, the w omen who participated generally found the experience to be a positive one. Only a small number of women were more upset than they had antici pated, but the vast majority felt they would have completed the survey even if they had known in advance how they would feel. The subset of women who did express distress was significantly different from the gr oup that did not, with respect to other measures of symptomatic distre ss and trauma exposure. These data suggest that surveys that inquire i nto prior episodes of childhood victimization are generally well toler ated by women who participate, and that, although a small number may b e disturbed by these investigations, in general, adverse reactions may be less common than previously anticipated. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.