History of Sexual Violence and Associated Negative Consequences: The Mediating Role of Body Image Dissatisfaction

Abstract

This article explores body image dissatisfaction (BID) as a potential mediating variable that may explain why those who have experienced sexual violence are more vulnerable to negative outcomes. It was hypothesized that women with a history of sexual violence would be more likely to report greater BID, which would be associated with experiencing increased psychological symptoms and distress, increased sexual risk behavior, and reduced sexual assertiveness. Structural equation models with bias-corrected bootstrapping were used to evaluate the conceptual model. Mediational analyses demonstrated that for women, experiences of sexual violence are significantly associated with greater BID, which, in turn, was predictive of increased depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as decreased sexual assertiveness. The implications of the current study are important, as they may inform clinical prevention and treatment of BID, support future research, and provide the opportunity to empower assault survivors by reducing the deleterious effects of sexual violence.

Keywords:

• Body image dissatisfaction
• sexual violence
• PTSD
• depression
• anxiety
• sexual risk behavior
• sexual assertiveness

Additional information

Funding

This publication was supported by NIDA grant [T32 DA007288] (Jaconis).

Notes on contributors

Maryanne Jaconis

Maryanne Jaconis received her PhD from the University of Wyoming in 2016 and subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Portland Veterans Administration in polytrauma and neuropsychology. Her research and clinical work focus primarily on trauma and PTSD. She currently provides evidence-based trauma treatment in Portland.

Stephen J. Boyd

Stephen Boyd received his PhD from Arizona State University in 2015 and subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Crime Victims Center in Charleston, South Carolina. He is currently an assistant professor at Oregon Health & Science University.

Matt J. Gray

Matt J. Gray earned his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Mississippi in 2000 and trained at the National Crime Victims Center and the National Center for PTSD. He is currently a professor of psychology at the University of Wyoming.