Self-Blame Mediates the Link Between Tonic Immobility Experienced During Campus Sexual Assault and PTSD Symptoms

During sexual assault (SA), victims commonly experience tonic immobility (TI), a state of involuntary paralysis and motor inhibition that occurs in response to extreme stress. TI often includes being unable to move or vocalize during the event (e.g., freezing, being unable to say "no"). Despite its efficacy as an evolutionary survival mechanism that may serve to prevent fatal injury, SA survivors who experienced TI are often blamed for the assault due to the false belief that lack of resistance during assault equates to consent. Self-blame and victim-blame by others are associated with more severe symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Prior research has not yet examined whether self-blame and victim-blame explain more severe PTSD among SA survivors who experienced TI. The current study tested the hypothesis that self-blame and victim-blame would mediate the relationship between TI and PTSD. All students from a public liberal arts college were asked to complete an online survey if they had a history of unwanted sexual contact. Among participants who completed all survey measures (N = 76), self-blame, but not victim-blame, mediated a link between TI and PTSD. This study highlights the need for interventions, such as cognitive processing therapy (CPT), that address cognitive distortions, including the survivor's belief that they should have done more to stop the assault. Thus, CPT may be a particularly promising therapy for SA survivors who blame themselves for the assault because of their experience of TI.