Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28689071›Full record

SynthesisClinical psychology review2017

Sexual assault victimization and psychopathology: A review and meta-analysis.

Emily R Dworkin, Suvarna V Menon, Jonathan Bystrynski, Nicole E Allen

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Clinical psychology review, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 274 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
274citing papers in PubMed, 13 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

274 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Sexual Violence and Shame: A Meta-Analysis.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2026
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  10. Associations between sexual assault and suicidal thoughts and behavior: A meta-analysis.Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy · 2022
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214 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Emily R DworkinUniversity of Washington, Seattle, United States. Electronic address: edworkin@uw.edu.
Suvarna V MenonUniversity of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, United States.
Jonathan BystrynskiUniversity of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, United States.
Nicole E AllenUniversity of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, United States.

Funding

Psychology Training in Alcohol Research (PTAR)T32AA007455 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · PI MARY E. LARIMER · 1985 to 2026
$11.4M
NIAAA NIH HHS T32 AA007455
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Sexual assault (SA) is a common and deleterious form of trauma. Over 40years of research on its impact has suggested that SA has particularly severe effects on a variety of forms of psychopathology, and has highlighted unique aspects of SA as a form of trauma that contribute to these outcomes. The goal of this meta-analytic review was to synthesize the empirical literature from 1970 to 2014 (reflecting 497 effect sizes) to understand the degree to which (a) SA confers general risk for psychological dysfunction rather than specific risk for posttraumatic stress, and (b) differences in studies and samples account for variation in observed effects. Results indicate that people who have been sexually assaulted report significantly worse psychopathology than unassaulted comparisons (average Hedges' g=0.61). SA was associated with increased risk for all forms of psychopathology assessed, and relatively stronger associations were observed for posttraumatic stress and suicidality. Effects endured across differences in sample demographics. The use of broader SA operationalizations (e.g., including incapacitated, coerced, or nonpenetrative SA) was not associated with differences in effects, although including attempted SA in operationalizations resulted in lower effects. Larger effects were observed in samples with more assaults involving stranger perpetrators, weapons, or physical injury. In the context of the broader literature, our findings provide evidence that experiencing SA is major risk factor for multiple forms of psychological dysfunction across populations and assault types.

Indexed as

Crime VictimsHumansPsychological TraumaSex OffensesStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticSuicideMental disordersMental healthMeta-regressionRapeSexual violenceTrauma

Identifiers

PMID28689071
PMCPMC5576571

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.