Sexual assault survivors' reactions to a thought suppression paradigm.
Trauma survivors may experience harm from participating in research on sensitive topics. The current study assessed reactions of sexual assault survivors with and without symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) immediately following an experimental thought suppression task and at a 2- to 4-week follow-up period, by asking open-ended questions regarding thoughts about the experiment, feelings following the experiment, and willingness to participate in similar experiments. At both time periods, most participants reported neutral/positive thoughts (e.g., "interesting") and feelings (e.g., "fine, good") and indicated that they would participate in a similar study. Findings suggest that the majority of sexual assault survivors were not harmed in the short- or long-term by participation in a thought suppression paradigm in which the target of suppression/expression was their own trauma.
Rabenhorst
Mandy M
MM
Northern Illinois University, Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault, DeKalb 60115, USA. mrabenho@niu.edu
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000941:ethics; D001290:Attitude; D004644:Emotions / Q000941:ethics; D032984:Ethics, Research; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology*; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D035842:Research Subjects / Q000523:psychology; D012650:Self Disclosure; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D013850:Thinking / Q000941:ethics