title: Gay male sexual assault survivors: the relations among internalized homophobia, experiential avoidance, and psychological symptom severity.
abstract: This study explored the relations among internalized homophobia (IH), experiential avoidance, and psychological symptom severity in a community sample of 74 gay male sexual assault survivors. Results indicated that IH is associated with both depressive and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity. IH accounted for more variance than assault severity in predicting both PTSD and depression symptom severity. IH and experiential avoidance similarly predicted PTSD symptom severity. In comparison with IH, however, experiential avoidance is a stronger predictor of depression symptom severity. Results also showed that experiential avoidance partially mediated the relation between IH and both depressive and PTSD symptom severity. The implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, Weiss Hall, Philadelphia PA 19122, USA. sarigold@temple.edu
authors.forename: Sari D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Gold
authors.forename: Brian P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Marx
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lexington
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D006716:Homosexuality / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007062:Identification, Psychological; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011287:Prejudice; D012649:Self Concept; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology*; D012933:Social Identification; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology