Sexual assault history and social support: six general population studies.
We evaluated the association of sexual assault history with later social support, operationalized as network size, marital status, presence of a partner, frequency of network contacts, and emotional support from friends and family, from spouse, and from partner. Data came from six independent general population surveys (pooled N = 9,865) whose results were summarized using meta-analysis. People who had been sexually assaulted were less likely than others to be married (OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.65, 0.87) or to report at least weekly contact with friends and relatives (OR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.31, 0.75), and reported less emotional support from friends and family (OR = 0.72,95% CI = 0.58,0.89) and spouse (OR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.54, 0.82). Results were consistent across studies, genders, and ethnic groups. Circumstances of sexual assault were sometimes related to social support.
Golding
Jacqueline M
JM
Institute for Health and Aging, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0646, USA. golding@itsa.ucsf.edu
Wilsnack
Sharon C
SC
Cooper
M Lynne
ML
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology*; D019058:Community Networks; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008487:Medical History Taking; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology*; D012107:Research Design; D012944:Social Support; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States