CAUSAL ATTRIBUTIONS AND POSTRAPE RECOVERY

Women in our society frequently are victims of sexual violence. As a result, the mental health effects of sexual victimization are a top priority in research on women's mental health. Identifying factors that facilitate recovery from rape is imperative. This knowledge can enable clinicians to identify victims who are at higher risk of developing long-term mental health problems. More importantly, identifying factors related to recovery that are modifiable can lead to more effective interventions for victims of rape. Key factors in the recovery process are the attribution made by the victim about the cause of the rape (i.e., perceptions of control over the past) and her perceptions of control over the future (i.e., over future victimization and the recovery process). The purpose of this research is to test a theoretical model of the relations between these factors and postrape recovery. Two studies are proposed to address these issues. In Study 1, longitudinal data will be collected from victims seen at a hospital- based rape crisis program. Data will be collected at 5 points, from 3 days to 9 months postrape. Because most victims do not seek help, reliance on such samples may bias research findings. In Study 2, data will be collected from rape victims identified through a random telephone survey. This will allow for the replication of results across the two groups as well as an assessment of the comparability of victim samples recruited by both methods. Data on current psychological functioning also will be collected from a matched control group of nonvictims identified through the telephone survey to obtain more information on the mental health effects of victimization. This research will significantly extend knowledge on factors affecting the postrape recovery process by clarifying the distinction between past and future control and by focusing more specifically than past research on the construct of future control (i.e., over recurrence and the recovery process. The research also contains two important methodological advances: (a) replicating findings from victim samples recruited from a hospital-based rape crisis program and a random telephone survey, and (b) gathering longitudinal data that allow stronger statements to be made regarding the direction of the relations between variables.