NCJ Number
227195
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 15 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2009 Pages: 699-719
Date Published
June 2009
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study explored the reasons why it may be difficult to answer questions regarding violence, sexual abuse, and other potentially traumatic events.
Abstract
Consistent with previous research, the vast majority of informants in the current study reported positive attitudes to being asked questions regarding violence, sexual abuse, and other potentially traumatic events (PTEs). Acceptance was equally high in those exposed to violence and/or sexual abuse and those not exposed to it. The majority of reasons given for why it was difficult to answer concerned the question of whether the personal experience would qualify for a "yes" answer. The main implication of this study is an increased awareness of the complexity of such phenomena and a call for caution in how epidemiological results in this field may be interpreted. It is of great importance to society to identify the prevalence of traumatic events in different populations and reveal their causes and effects. Exposure to PTEs may be hard to measure, and little is known about how informants comprehend the questions and what kinds of events informants perceive to qualify for a "yes" response. The aim of study, consisting of a nonrepresentative sample of 628 women responding to a Web survey, was to investigate why it might be difficult to answer questions regarding violence, sexual abuse, and other PTEs. Tables, appendix, notes, and references