(PS7-D76) Rape Myth Acceptance and Coping Strategies

Stress management processes (e.g., coping strategies) have important links to psychological wellbeing and distress (e.g., Penley et al., 2002; Ben-Zur, 2005). For example, self-blame has a positive association with depression (Wilson et al., 2018) and a negative relation with self-compassion (Hamrick & Owens, 2019). Denial also presents a positive association with depression (Kortte et al., 2003), while acceptance relates to increased subjective well-being and self-worth (Miller Smedema et al., 2010). Understanding cognitive and contextual factors related to burgeoning strategies is key to effective intervention development (Jenzer et al., 2018).  

Emerging adults attending college face new environments and responsibilities (Jenzer et al., 2018). Unfortunately, college attendance is marked by high prevalence of sexual assault (e.g., 19-22%; Conley et al., 2017; Mellins et al., 2017) and low subsequent reporting (Gonzales, Schofield, & Schmitt, 2005; Hahn et al., 2020). Rape victimization is associated with differences in stress management (Littleton et al., 2006), and rape myth acceptance (RMA; i.e. stereotyped opinions about rape, and/or the level to which someone subscribes to false explanations/effects of rape; Paul et al., 2009; Yeater et al., 2010) is also linked to mental health outcomes (Wilson et al., 2018). For instance, research suggests that sexual assault survivors who support the notion that women want to be raped are likely to engage in self-blame (Wilson et al., 2018), and survivors who engage in self-blame are at an increased risk for later anxiety and depression (Frazer, 2003). However, no work has considered relationships between RMA and denial or acceptance in samples who have not specified that they have personally experienced sexual assault. The current project aims to fill this gap by examining how RMA relates to an individual’s self-blame, acceptance, and denial coping strategies in an unselected emerging adult college student sample.

Participants were drawn from a larger survey study (N= 688) focused on health-related behaviors among college students (n= 595, age 18-25 years, M_age=19.99, SD_age=1.75, 73.9% women, 53.3% White). Measures included the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (IRMA; Lonsway, 1999) and the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory (Brief-COPE; Carver, 1997). Separate regression analyses were run for each coping subscale. Results indicated that higher RMA scores were significantly related to higher self-blame (F[1,546]=17.08, p< .001, R²=.03), higher denial (F[1,546]=60.94, p< .001, R²=.10), and higher acceptance (F[1,546]=4.24, p=.040, R²=.01). Results indicate that those who endorse more false explanations of rape are also more likely to use defense mechanisms (i.e. self-blame, denial), as well as acceptance as means to cope broadly. Self-report biases should be considered, and future projects should use more sophisticated designs (e.g., laboratory studies, using ecological momentary assessment) and include diverse samples (e.g., SES, race/ethnicity) to further delineate the link between RMA and coping strategies. The results emphasize the necessity for further research of RMA and coping mechanisms.