The impact of rape: social support as a moderator of stress

This study investigated 25 victims' reactions to sexual assault and the role of social support in their subsequent adjustment. Victims were interviewed 3 months after the assault to gather information about the assault, the type of support they received, and the effects of the assault as measured by two scales of psychological stress: Impact of Events scale and SCL-90-R. Our major findings were that (a) victim's scale scores were significantly elevated, reflecting the considerable distress they were still experiencing; (b) there were significant differences in the availability of support from specific categories of people (e.g., police received significantly high ratings, whereas physicians' ratings were significantly low); (c) the amount of perceived support varied with the stressfulness of the assault; (d) however, contrary to initial hypotheses, the amount of overall support did not predict subsequent adjustment; (e) support from physicians did correlate significantly with both scales of psychological adjustment.