Trauma-Related Shame, Characterological Self-Blame, and Psychological Outcomes Among Sexual Assault Survivors

Abstract

Exposure to sexual violence is associated with deleterious mental health consequences, and survivors’ perceptions of self-blame can exacerbate these difficulties. Characterological self-blame (CSB) has been associated with negative outcomes (e.g., PTSD, depression, & anxiety). However, the underlying mechanisms that account for CSB’s negative impacts have not been explored despite the stigmatizing and blaming nature surrounding sexual violence. In the present study, we examined whether trauma-related shame would explain CSB’s association with depression and anxiety symptom severity. A sample of 197 women who reported prior exposure to sexual assault completed measures of self-blame, trauma-related shame, and depression and anxiety symptoms. A significant association was found between CSB and depression, r(197) = .380, p < .01, and anxiety, r(197) = .256, p < .01. Trauma-related shame significantly mediated the relationship between CSB and depression (B = .07, SE = .02, 95% CI [.03, .12]), and mediated between CSB and anxiety (B = .05, SE = .02, 95% CI [.01, .09]). Trauma-related shame may be a useful treatment target for survivors of sexual assault experiencing maladaptive blame and psychological distress.

Keywords:

• Sexual assault
• self-blame
• shame
• depression
• anxiety

Data availability statement

The participants of this study did not give written consent for their data to be shared publicly, so due to the sensitive nature of the research supporting data is not available.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Melody D. Robinson

Melody D. Robinson is an alumna of Crafton Hills College and California State University, San Bernardino with her M.A. in Psychological Science. Her thesis focused on women’s experiences with sexual violence, including their feelings of self-blame, shame, and mental health difficulties. Much of her research is conducted within diverse areas such as LGBTQ+ community health, mental health treatment equity, and trauma experiences within at-risk communities. She served as a sexual assault crisis advocate for San Bernardino County. During her M.A. degree, she also served as the Institutional Review Board’s student representative, taught two lab sections of undergraduate statistics, and was awarded the CSBS Outstanding Graduate Student and OSR Outstanding Graduate Researcher. She hopes to continue research that explores survivors’ feelings of shame and self-compassion in order to promote healing after violence and combat the pervasive stigma still attributed to sexual violence today. She is continuing her education as a second-year clinical psychology Ph.D. student at the University of Tulsa in Fall 2023.

Christina M. Hassija

Christina M. Hassija, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology at California State University San Bernardino and a licensed clinical psychologist with expertise in the area of trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Dr. Hassija received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Wyoming. She completed her pre-doctoral clinical internship at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle Division and received postdoctoral training at the National Center for PTSD at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and Stanford University. Dr. Hassija’s research activities focus on elucidating mechanisms of vulnerability and resilience among interpersonal violence and combat populations. As a natural progression of this work, her research efforts also include the development and dissemination of evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD that are designed to improve resilience capacities and alleviate posttraumatic distress. Specific interests include the psychological and emotional consequences of sexual assault and intimate partner violence, risk and resilience factors in PTSD following interpersonal trauma (e.g., cognitive appraisals, coping, social support, disclosure to support networks), meaning making and posttraumatic growth in trauma-exposed individuals, and implementation and dissemination of evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD populations.

Joseph D. Wellman

Joseph D. Wellman is an Associate Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Mississippi. Dr. Wellman received his Ph.D. from the University of Maine before completing a Postdoctoral fellowship at Wesleyan University. Dr. Wellman’s research focuses on examining the consequences of stigma, discrimination, and bias as a psychological and physiological stressor. Much of his research focuses on how stigmatized individuals respond to and cope with these experiences and factors that moderate their responses.