Interpersonal trauma in gay men: A systematic review of post-aggression risk and protective factors for PTSD

Abstract

Introduction

This systematic review synthesizes research on post-aggression factors influencing the PTSD symptoms of gay male victims of physical or sexual aggression.

Method

Four databases with specific key words were systematically searched. Articles published between 1973 and 2022 focusing on adult gay men, PTSD symptoms, sexual or physical aggression experiences and post-aggression factors were included. Risks of bias and study characteristics were examined for cross-sectional studies.

Results

The search led to the inclusion of 26 articles containing five domains of post-aggression factors significantly associated with PTSD, i.e., cognitive, social, coping strategies, emotional and gay identity.

Conclusion

Clinical implications are discussed.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Data availability and ethics statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data was created or analyzed in this systematic review. For this same reason, institutional ethics review was not required.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Société et Culture under Grant 286310.