#  BEST Lab Graduate Student, Emily Mellen, Manuscript Accepted By Journal of Interpersonal Violence 

 





May 13, 2023

 

 

 Congratulations to Emily Mellen whose manuscript, "Sexual Violence-Related Stigma, Mental Health, and Treatment Seeking: A Multimodal Assessment in a Population-Based Study of Young Adults" was accepted by the *Journal of Interpersonal Violence* (Abstract below).

 **Abstract**: Sexual violence (SV) is a stigmatized form of trauma, yet the stigma experiences of those reporting SV are often assumed rather than explicitly measured. We adapted a measure that quantified three key features of SV stigma across 3 levels: negative self-image (individual), disclosure concerns (interpersonal), and concerns about public attitudes (structural). We administered this measure to a population-based sample of Swedish young adults (N = 453) who reported a history of either sexual assault (SA) or intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV). Among both groups, 89% endorsed at least one item on the stigma scale. Experiences of SV related stigma were associated with significantly higher symptoms of generalized anxiety, depression, and PTSD, with greater perceived need for mental health treatment, and with more shame (measured implicitly via a reaction-time task). Experiences of stigma were negatively associated with symptoms of alcohol misuse. Results suggest that exposure to SV-stigma may be a critical, but often overlooked, correlate of post-assault recovery.



 

 

 



 

 

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