Date Approved

7-9-2007

Embargo Period

3-28-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in Mental Health Counseling and Applied Psychology

Department

Psychology

College

College of Science & Mathematics

Advisor

Angelone, DJ

Subject(s)

Rape trauma syndrome; Rape victims--Alcohol use

Disciplines

Psychology

Abstract

The current study examines whether or not alcohol consumption during a sexual assault suppresses PTSD symptomology as well as the subjective impact of the assault. One hundred and fifty-one women participated in the study. The first hypothesis was that women in the alcohol condition would endorse less PTSD symptoms on a PTSD measure than women who were not consuming alcohol at the time of their assault experience. The second hypothesis was that women who were consuming alcohol at the time of their assault would subjectively rate the impact of the assault as having less of an impact than women who were not consuming alcohol at the time of their assault experience. The women were given a survey packet with various psychological measures to complete. The data was analyzed using ANCOVA, independent t-test, and post-hoc correlational analyses. Results indicated that there were no significant differences between the alcohol and no alcohol conditions on PTSD symptomology, but significant differences did exist on the subjective impact ratings of the event. The implications for these findings are discussed.

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