Relationships Between Trauma Exposure, PTSD, and Formal Help-Seeking in African American and Latina Women Sexual...

The present study's purpose was to address the lack of research on correlates of ethnically diverse sexual assault (SA) survivors' formal support-seeking post-assault. Types of support sources told about SA, trauma histories, and PTSD severity were examined in African American and Latina women survivors and analyzed in relationship to formal help-seeking after SA from various professionals (e.g., rape crisis, mental health, medical, police, clergy) in the Chicago metropolitan area. Survivors of SA (N=1863) participated in a mail survey, including 766 African American and 239 Latinas (85% response rate). Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were used to examine race/ethnic differences in trauma and support types and correlates of formal help-seeking, respectively. African American survivors reported more exposure to contextual traumas (e.g., witnessing violence, stranger crime) than Latina survivors. In contrast, Latina survivors experienced greater interpersonal traumas (e.g., family violence) than African American survivors. Latina survivors were more likely to tell family/partners than African American survivors, whereas African American survivors more often told formal support sources than Latina survivors. Histories of contextual and interpersonal trauma exposure, informal social support sources (e.g., friends, family, intimate partners), and PTSD were examined in relationship to formal help-seeking. A greater number of interpersonal traumas, PTSD severity, and telling more people were related to greater formal help-seeking for both groups. Finally, implications for future research related to formal help-seeking in African American and Latina survivors are discussed.