TY - JOUR
T1 - Interpersonal Trauma and Sexual Function and Satisfaction
T2 - The Mediating Role of Negative Affect Among Survivors of Military Sexual Trauma
AU - K. Blais, Rebecca
AU - K. Zalta, Alyson
AU - S. Livingston, Whitney
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank the military service women who participated in this study. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Grant Support. Funding for this study was provided to the first author from Division 19 (Society for Military Psychology) of the American Psychological Association and the Department of Psychology, Utah State University.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 SAGE Publications.
PY - 2022/4
Y1 - 2022/4
N2 - Healthy sexual function among women service members/veterans (SM/Vs) is associated with higher quality of life, lower incidence and severity of mental health diagnoses, higher relationship satisfaction, and less frequent suicidal ideation. Although trauma exposure has been established as a predictor of poor sexual function and satisfaction in women SM/Vs, no study to date has examined whether specific trauma types, such as military sexual trauma (MST), increase risk for sexual issues. Moreover, the possible mechanisms of this association have not been explored. The current study examined whether posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptom clusters mediated the association of trauma type and sexual function and satisfaction in 426 trauma-exposed women SM/Vs. Two hundred seventy participants (63.4%) identified MST as their index trauma. Path analyses demonstrated that MST was related to poorer sexual function and lower satisfaction relative to the other traumas (χ2[28, N = 426] = 43.3, p = 0.03, CFI = 1.00, TLI = 0.99, and RMSEA = 0.04), and this association was mediated by higher non-somatic depressive symptoms and PTSD symptom clusters of anhedonia and negative alterations in cognition and mood (NACM). Causality cannot be inferred due to the cross-sectional nature of the data. However, our findings suggest that interventions aimed at decreasing sexual issues among female SM/Vs with MST should target depressogenic symptoms, whether the origin is depression or PTSD. Longitudinal research exploring the etiological processes that contribute to sexual dysfunction among those with MST is needed.
AB - Healthy sexual function among women service members/veterans (SM/Vs) is associated with higher quality of life, lower incidence and severity of mental health diagnoses, higher relationship satisfaction, and less frequent suicidal ideation. Although trauma exposure has been established as a predictor of poor sexual function and satisfaction in women SM/Vs, no study to date has examined whether specific trauma types, such as military sexual trauma (MST), increase risk for sexual issues. Moreover, the possible mechanisms of this association have not been explored. The current study examined whether posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptom clusters mediated the association of trauma type and sexual function and satisfaction in 426 trauma-exposed women SM/Vs. Two hundred seventy participants (63.4%) identified MST as their index trauma. Path analyses demonstrated that MST was related to poorer sexual function and lower satisfaction relative to the other traumas (χ2[28, N = 426] = 43.3, p = 0.03, CFI = 1.00, TLI = 0.99, and RMSEA = 0.04), and this association was mediated by higher non-somatic depressive symptoms and PTSD symptom clusters of anhedonia and negative alterations in cognition and mood (NACM). Causality cannot be inferred due to the cross-sectional nature of the data. However, our findings suggest that interventions aimed at decreasing sexual issues among female SM/Vs with MST should target depressogenic symptoms, whether the origin is depression or PTSD. Longitudinal research exploring the etiological processes that contribute to sexual dysfunction among those with MST is needed.
KW - PTSD
KW - sexual assault
KW - sexuality
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U2 - 10.1177/0886260520957693
DO - 10.1177/0886260520957693
M3 - Article
C2 - 32990170
AN - SCOPUS:85091726715
SN - 0886-2605
VL - 37
SP - NP5517-NP5537
JO - Journal of interpersonal violence
JF - Journal of interpersonal violence
IS - 7-8
ER -