An assessment of long-term reaction o rape

Abstract

Examined reactions to rape by interviewing 27 female rape victims at least 1 yr after the assault and assessing their current functioning through such measures as the Beck Depression Inventory and Profile of Mood States. Victims were significantly more depressed and reported less pleasure in daily activities than 26 matched nonvictim controls. Ss who had been victims of sudden violent attacks by complete strangers showed the most severe reactions, being even more depressed, fatigued, and fearful and getting less satisfaction from activities than victims of other types of assaults. (14 ref)

Full text

Journal
of
Abnormal
Psychology
1981,
Vol.
90, No. 3,
263-266
Copyright
1981
by the
American
Psychological
Association,
Inc.
0021-843X/81
/9003-0263J00.75
Short Reports
*
An
Assessment
of
Long-Term Reaction
to
Rape
Elizabeth
M.
Ellis, Beverly
M.
Atkeson,
and
Karen
S.
Calhoun
University
of
Georgia
To
examine long-term reactions
to
rape,
27
adult women
who had
been rape
victims
were interviewed
and
their current
functioning
assessed through
a
variety
of
written
measures. Victims were
significantly
more depressed
and
reported less
pleasure
in
daily
activities than matched
nonvictim
controls. Women
who had
been victims
of
sudden violent attacks
by
complete strangers showed
the
most
severe
reactions,
being even more
depressed,
fatigued,
and
fearful,
and
getting
less satisfaction
from
activities than victims
of
other types
of
assaults.
Interest
in the
psychological adjustment
of
rape
victims
has
been spurred
in the
past decade
by
several
reports,
most
of
them
based
on
interviews
with
victims (Burgess
&
Holmstrom, 1974; Not-
man
&
Nadelson, 1976; Sutherland
&
Scherl,
1970).
A
general pattern
of
reactions occurring
in
the
months
following
the
assult
has
been iden-
tified
and
labeled
"rape
trauma syndrome" (Bur-
gess
&
Holmstrom, 1974). More recent studies
have begun
to
systematically examine specific ele-
ments
of
these reactions
and
changes over time.
Kilpatrick,
Veronen,
and
Resick (1979)
found
that
6
months
following
the
assault, victims were
still
reporting increased fears, especially those
re-
lated
to
attack vulnerability cues.
Feldman-Sum-
mers,
Gordon,
and
Meagher
(1979)
found
de-
creases
in
sexual activity immediately following
the
assault
and
long-term effects
on
sexual sat-
isfaction.
However, knowledge about
the
longer-
term
effects
of
rape
are
still quite limited
and
short-
and
long-term effects
are
often
confounded
in
rape reaction studies
(Queen's
Bench Foun-
dation, 1976).
The
present
study examined long-term effects
of
rape
in
victims
who had
been assaulted
at
least
1
year previously. Empirically derived measures
were
selected
to
assess
both intra-
and
interper-
sonal
functioning
of
victims. Interview questions
were designed
to
supplement information gained
from
paper-and-pencil
measures.
A
matched group
of
nonvictims provided
a
norm against which
to
compare victims.
This
research
was
supported
by
Grant
MH29750
from
the
National Institute
of
Mental Health.
Requests
for
reprints should
be
addressed
to
Elizabeth
M.
Ellis, Atlanta Center
for
Psychotherapy,
174
West
Wieuca, Atlanta,
Georgia
30342.
Method
Research Participants
Twenty-seven
victims
from
the
metropolitan
Atlanta area
who had
been raped
at
least
1
year
previously
(M = 3
years,
range
=1-16
years)
participated.
At the
time
of the
interview,
92%
were
in
their
20s or
30s.
The
majority
(59%) were
middle
class (Myers
&
Bean, 1968),
and 93%
were
white. They learned
of the
study through
newspaper
ads, rape crisis center counselors,
or
public
speaking
by the
research
staff.
A
control
group
of 26
women
who
matched
the
victims
on
age, race, socioeconomic level,
and
marital status
were recruited through bulletins posted
at a
YWCA
and
human service agencies.
The
study
was
described
as an
investigation
of
stresses
in
women's lives.
Procedure
After
giving written
informed
consent,
all
par-
ticipants
were given
the
Beck
Depression
Inven-
tory
(BDI;
Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock,
&
Erbaugh, 1961),
the
Profile
of
Mood
States
(POMS;
McNair, Lorr,
&
Droppleman, 1971),
the
short
form
of the
Pleasant Events Schedule
(PES; MacPhillamy
&
Lewinsohn, 1976),
the
Social
Adjustment
Scale-Self
Report Form
(SAS-
SR;
Weissman
&
Bothwell, 1976),
and the
Mod-
ified
Fear
Survey (MFS; Veronen
&
Kilpatrick,
1980)
which
is
based
on
Wolpe
and
Lang's
(1964)
scale, with
the
addition
of 42
items relating
to
rape
and
violence.
Participants were then given
a
semistructured
interview
concerning history
and
current
func-
tioning
in the
following
areas:
work, interpersonal
263