Negative Responses to Disclosure of Sexual Victimization and Victims' Symptoms of PTSD and Depression: The Protective Role of Ethnic Identity.

College-aged women experience high rates of sexual victimization. Their postassault symptoms are associated with the types of responses they receive from the people to whom they disclose these experiences. Negative responses are pervasive and associated with poorer outcomes. The current study examined whether a strong sense of ethnic identity and comfort with the mainstream culture moderate the association between negative responses to the first disclosure of sexual victimization and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. A diverse sample (10% Black/African American, 51% White, 39% Other, and 66% Hispanic) of undergraduate women was recruited from two urban, Eastern United States universities for this online study. Participants reported histories of sexual victimization, demographics, responses to sexual assault disclosure (i.e., victim blame, treating the victim differently, taking control, distraction, and egocentric reactions), symptoms of PTSD and depression, and their ethnic identity and mainstream cultural comfort. Thirty-seven percent (n = 221) endorsed an experience of sexual victimization, and 165 disclosed it to someone. Hierarchical ordinary least squares regressions revealed that a stronger sense of ethnic identity was associated with fewer symptoms of PTSD for those women who experienced higher levels of control, distraction, and egocentric responses from the first disclosure recipient. A strong sense of affiliation with the mainstream culture did not protect survivors who reported receiving negative responses to disclosure against symptoms of PTSD or depression. Ethnic affiliation may protect women against PTSD when they receive high levels of negative messages about sexual victimization experiences.