This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 1077801209332182v1 15/6/699    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Thoresen, S. Articles by Øverlien, C. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Thoresen, S. Articles by Øverlien, C. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Women's Health Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Trauma Victim: Yes or No?

Why It May Be Difficult to Answer Questions Regarding Violence, Sexual Abuse, and Other Traumatic Events

Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies

Carolina Øverlien

Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies

The aim of this study is to explore the reasons why it may be difficult to answer questions regarding violence, sexual abuse, and other potentially traumatic events (PTEs). Qualitative and quantitative methods are used with a nonrepresentative community sample of 628 women who respond to a Web survey. Altogether, 65% do not find it difficult to answer any PTE questions. Difficulties in answering occur more frequently with violence and sexual abuse items and are associated with exposure. Reasons for difficulties in answering include "event fit" (severity, frequency, force), "me as a victim" (responsibility, reactions, protection, memory), and "you as abuser" (intention, protection).

Key Words: measurement • potentially traumatic events • sexual abuse • violence

This version was published on June 1, 2009

Violence Against Women, Vol. 15, No. 6, 699-719 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1077801209332182


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?