The Effects of Revictimization on Coping and Depression in Women Sexual Assault Victims

On two mail surveys completed 1 year apart, 555 women reported their experiences of sexual assault, the strategies they used to cope with those experiences, and feelings of depression. Path analyses controlling for baseline coping and depression revealed that victims who were revictimized during the study reported using more maladaptive and adaptive coping strategies than did victims who were not revictimized. Further, women who were revictimized reported more depression than others. This effect was explained in part by revictimized women’s increased maladaptive coping. Implications for understanding coping and recovery in women who experience multiple sexual assaults in adulthood are discussed