Sequelae of sexual trauma in women treated for non-trauma-related psychiatric disorders in a psychiatric hospital in Switzerland

Post-traumatic stress disorder and related factors among female victims of sexual assault required to attend a University Hospital in Turkey: A cross-sectional cohort study

BACKGROUND

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common consequences of sexual assault, but it is not invariable.

AIM

Our aim was to investigate pre-, peri- and post-traumatic factors associated with post-traumatic stress disorder among adult women who had been sexually assaulted.

METHODS

All women attending a specialist university clinic for victims of sexual assault referred by the courts for a mental health assessment were invited to participate. At the time, the Turkish penal code required such referral (the year up to September 2015). Consenting women completed a sociodemographic information form, the Traumatic Stress Symptom Checklist, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Short Form-36 reflecting perceived quality of life, the Beck Depression Scale and the Beck Anxiety Scale.

RESULTS

Sixty women were eligible and agreed to participate. Two-thirds of them (41, 68%) reported features of PTSD. In bivariate analyses, the women with PTSD also rated themselves as having a wide range of health and social disadvantages. Self-perceived poverty of social support and having suicidal thoughts were independently associated with PTSD.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the rate of mental health and social problems among the women with PTSD were high, less than a third had actually sought help for their difficulties. While a requirement in the penal code that such women should have a psychiatric assessment seems over-intrusive and has since been dropped, our findings suggest that more efforts should be made to ensure that such women have help available if they want it.

Relationships Between World Health OrganizationInternational Classification of Functioning, Disability and HealthConstructs and Participation in Adults With Severe Mental Illness

Purpose:To examine the World Health OrganizationInternational Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health(ICF) constructs as correlates of community participation of people with severe mental illnesses (SMI).

Methods:Quantitative descriptive research design using multiple regression and correlational techniques was used to analyze 193 persons with SMI.

Results:This study examined the unique relationships between each of the ICF constructs and participation in a series of simultaneous regression analyses. Age, schizophrenia/schizoaffective diagnosis, insight, self-care activity, social competency, and social support from friends were significant predictors of participation when compared to variables in the same ICF constructs. In addition, these significant ICF predictors of participation were entered in a hierarchical regression, and only insight, social competency, and social support from friends were found to be significant predictors of participation after controlling for the effect of other ICF variables.

Conclusion:In this ICF model, insight, social competency, and social support from friends were found to be associated with participation and mediated the individual contributions of types of psychiatric disabilities and self-care activity to participation. Rehabilitation practitioners should focus on interventions that increase these factors for people with SMI. Rehabilitation researchers should continue to use the ICF as a model from which to predict participation in specific life activities (e.g., employment) for people with SMI. Continued application and validation of the ICF model could positively impact recovery-oriented outcomes for individuals with SMI.