Neuroticism, Extraversion, Perceived Social Support, and Escape Television Viewing as Determinants of Psychological Distress in Crime Victims

Abstract

This study describes a longitudinal analysis of the relationship among neuroticism, extraversion, educational level, perceived social support, escape viewing, and psychological distress in crime victims. A sample of 170 crime victims completed self-report measures of these concepts. Personality traits, educational level, and baseline rates at 3 months postcrime of perceived social support and escape television viewing were modeled as predictors of psychological distress at 6 and 9 months postcrime. Neuroticism and extraversion significantly predicted psychological distress following victimization. Escape viewing had direct effects on distress and mediated the relationship between neuroticism and distress. Distress symptoms at 3 months were the strongest predictors of distress at 6 and 9 months postcrime.

KEYWORDS:

• extraversion
• neuroticism
• perceived social support
• television viewing

Notes

1. ¹In Belgium, police officers are legally bound to offer assistance from a delegate from the VSU to persons who report being a victim of a crime involving direct contact with the perpetrator or violation of the home. If this offer is accepted, the VSU contacts the victim within 5 days of being notified.

2. ²For reasons of confidentiality, the victims who participated in this study received the first questionnaire directly from the VSU. However, some VSU divisions were concerned that sending out follow-up questionnaires as a reminder would put too much pressure on their clients. Consequently, follow-up efforts to maximize response were hampered.

3. ³Respondents who completed the first assessment filled out their addresses on the envelope in which the questionnaire was returned; unlike the procedure used to compose the panel, follow-up for the remaining waves of data collection could therefore be carried out by the researchers. During data collection in Wave 2 and Wave 3, each respondent received a first follow-up questionnaire if no answer had been received after 3 weeks; if 3 more weeks later no answer was received, a final follow-up questionnaire was mailed to the respondent.

4. ⁴Of the victims, 2.6% were victims or next of kin of victims of (attempted) murder or manslaughter; 5.4% were rape victims; 4% were victims of indecent assault; 10.2% were domestic assault victims; 21.9% were nondomestic assault victims; 14.4% were stalking victims; 17.6% were robbery victims; and 20.5% were burglary victims. The remaining 3.4% were victims of other types of crime (e.g., false allegations and destruction of property).