Surviving the Storm: The Role of Social Support and Religious Coping in Sexual Assault Recovery of African American Women

• NCJ Number: 239152
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 17 Issue: 12 Dated: December 2011 Pages: 1601-1618
• Author(s): Thema Bryant-Davis; Sara E. Ullman; Yuying Tsong; Robyn Gobin
• Date Published: December 2011
• Length: 18 pages
• Grant Number(s): AA13455
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article discusses African-American women's increased risk for sexual assault and decreased use of traditional psychotherapy.

Abstract

African-American women are at high risk for sexual assault. In addition, many African-American women endorse the use of social support and religiosity to cope with trauma. The current study investigates the relationship between these two coping strategies and post-trauma symptoms in a sample of 413 African-American female sexual assault survivors using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings indicated that survivors with greater social support were less likely to endorse the symptoms of depression and PTSD. Conversely, increased use of religious coping was related to greater endorsement of depression and PTSD symptoms. Counseling and research implications are explored. (Published Abstract)