Self-rated Health in Relation to Rape and Mental Health Disorders in a National Sample of College Women

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to employ a multivariate approach to examine the correlates of self-rated health in a college sample of women, with particular emphasis on sexual assault history and related mental health outcomes. Participants: A national sample of 2,000 female college students participated in a structured phone interview between January and June 2006. Methods: Interview modules assessed demographics, posttraumatic stress disorder, major depressive episode, substance use, rape experiences, and physical health. Results: Logistic regression analyses showed that poor self-rated health was associated with low income (odds ratio [OR] = 2.70), lifetime posttraumatic stress disorder (OR = 2.47), lifetime major depressive episode (OR = 2.56), past year illicit drug use (OR = 2.48), and multiple rape history (OR = 2.25). Conclusions: These findings highlight the need for university mental health and medical service providers to assess for rape history, and to diagnose and treat related psychiatric problems in order to reduce physical morbidity.

Keywords:

• depression
• physical health
• posttraumatic stress disorder
• sexual assault
• substance use

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was supported by National Institute of Justice (NIJ) grant 2005-WG-BX-00060006 (Principal Investigator: Dean G. Kilpatrick, PhD). Support for manuscript preparation was provided by NIDA 1R01DA023099-01A2 (Principal Investigator: Heidi Resnick). Dr Amstadter is supported by NIMH grant MH083469. Views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the agencies supporting this research.

Notes

Results for study analyses using the continuous self-rated health variable are available from the corresponding author upon request.