The impact of child sexual abuse and stigma on methods of coping with sexual assault among undergraduate women

Objective: The aim of the current study was to determine whether a prior hi story of child sexual abuse increased the likelihood of using disengagement methods of coping with a sexual assault that had occurred within the past year. Once this was established, a mediational model was tested in which it was hypothesized that specific traumagenic dynamics and changed world view s would mediate the association between child and/or adolescent sexual abus e and increased use of disengagement coping methods in response to a recent sexual assault. Method: One thousand and fifty women undergraduates from a New England stat e university completed a survey for research credit. Respondents were asked detailed questions regarding experiences of sexual assault within the past year, histories of child and/or adolescent sexual abuse, traumagenic dynam ics, and world assumptions. Analyses were based on 106 participants who had experienced a sexual assault within the past year. Results: Sexually assaulted young women with a history of child sexual abus e used more disengagement methods of coping to deal with the adult sexual a ssault than women without this history. In addition, the relationship betwe en prior sexual abuse and the use of disengagement coping strategies was me diated by feelings of stigma, but not by feelings of betrayal and powerless ness or beliefs in the meaningfulness and benevolence of the world. Conclusions: This is the first study to find that sexually revictimized you ng women may be particularly at-risk of relying on disengagement methods of coping with sexual assault. Furthermore, this association is mediated by f eelings of shame or stigma. Directions for further research and clinical im plications are discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserve d.