Systematic Review of Posttraumatic Growth From Sexual Assault in Women

Abstract

This review explores the existing literature on posttraumatic growth in women survivors of sexual assaults. A systematic review of research literature following PRISMA guidelines between 1980 and 2023 was conducted using databases like PsychINFO, PubMed, ProQuest, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Approximately 78 articles were initially identified and evaluated in the preliminary search using the identified keywords. Of those retrieved, 22 met the criteria and were included integrating the findings from 18 quantitative and 04 qualitative studies. The review findings suggest that the mean prevalence of growth in sexual assault survivors ranges from 4.59 to 64.04 in the PTGI total scores, ranging from 0 to 105. Overall, small to moderate PTG was found to be a recurring phenomenon among survivors of sexual assault. The highest level of growth was consistently experienced in relating to other domain. Posttraumatic stress, social support, religiosity/spirituality, and control over recovery were suggested to be associated with posttraumatic growth. Implications for practice, policy, and future directions are discussed.

Keywords:

• Posttraumatic stress
• sexual assault
• treatment
• sexual harassment
• posttraumatic growth

Acknowledgment

The author wants to express his heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Antreelena Basu for her invaluable assistance in proofreading and grammar checking.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research.

Notes on contributors

Irfan Fayaz

Irfan Fayaz is an Assistant Professor at Woxsen University India and a doctoral fellow at Jindal Institute of Behavioral Sciences (JIBS), O. P. Jindal Global University; Sonipat, Haryana, India.