The unique associations of sexual assault and intimate partner violence with PTSD symptom clusters in a traumatized...

There is a high occurrence of sexual assault (SA) and intimate partner violence (IPV) among people with substance use disorders and an established association between substance use and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but no research has examined associations between combinations of these traumas and PTSD symptom profiles among people who abuse substances. Thus, this study aimed to examine how combinations of SA and IPV histories contribute to the severity of symptoms within PTSD symptom clusters above and beyond the impact of exposure to other traumas in a substance abusing population.

Participants were men and women (N = 219) with trauma histories seeking treatment in a substance abuse facility. Multivariate analyses of covariance examined differences on Clinician Administrated PTSD Scale cluster scores in people with experiences of SA and/or IPV in comparison to people with other types of trauma, controlling for number of PTSD criterion A events.

SA was associated with increased symptom severity across all 3 PTSD symptom clusters, whereas IPV was not associated with differences in cluster scores. In addition, survivors of IPV had consistent levels of avoidance symptoms regardless of whether they had also experienced SA, but people who had not experienced IPV only evidenced increased avoidance symptoms when they had experienced SA. Follow-up analyses testing gender differences indicated that these findings were largely similar for men and women.

SA should be assessed in people in substance use treatment settings to conceptualize their unique presentations of PTSD symptoms and inform treatment planning. (PsycINFO Database Record