Reporting Decisions Following Sexual Assault: The Impact of Mental Health Variables

Sexual assault victims are at risk for developing mental health concerns related to their victimization (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000; Breslau, Davis, Andreski, & Peterson, 1991). Many of these crimes go unreported to police, which can impact victim eligibility for some assistance programs (National Association of Crime Victims Compensation Boards, 2012) that could help them with the costs of desired medical and health care. Studies of crime-reporting behavior suggest that reporting decisions are made through consideration of various factors (Bachman, 1998; Felson, Messner, Hoskin, & Deane, 2002; Gottfredson & Gottfredson, 1988; Greenberg & Ruback, 1985; United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics [USDOJ], 2010, 2011; Wolitzky-Taylor et al., 2011). Limited research however has been conducted on emotional (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD] or depression symptoms) and cognitive (e.g., postcrime negative beliefs about the self or world) influences on these choices after a sexual assault. This study collected survey data from 834 female (n = 668) and male (n = 166) participants who experienced an unwanted and forced sexual event. Participants were recruited from online advertisements (n = 758) and an undergraduate subject pool (n = 76). In addition to the impact of assault characteristics and victim perceptions of the event, PTSD symptoms accounted for a significant portion of variance in reporting behavior. Specifically, avoidance symptoms decreased report likelihood, while re-experiencing and hyperarousal symptoms increased the probability of reporting. As greater avoidance symptom severity is thought to negatively impact the course of PTSD (Ehlers & Clark, 2000; Foa & Cahill, 2001), it is notable that these symptoms may reduce the police notification likelihood, thus, potentially impacting victim eligibility for some sources of financial support.