Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Psychology Theses & Dissertations Psychology Summer 2016 The Relationship Between Trauma-Related Shame, Disordered Behaviors, and Contextual Factors of Sexual Trauma Beyond Trait- Shame and Sex-Guilt Michele Laaksonen Old Dominion University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/psychology_etds Part of the Clinical Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Laaksonen, Michele. "The Relationship Between Trauma-Related Shame, Disordered Behaviors, and Contextual Factors of Sexual Trauma Beyond Trait-Shame and Sex-Guilt" (2016). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Dissertation, Psychology, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/3e7e-am58 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/psychology_etds/30 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Psychology at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Psychology Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAUMA-RELATED SHAME, DISORDERED BEHAVIORS, AND CONTEXTUAL FACTORS OF SEXUAL TRAUMA BEYOND TRAIT- SHAME AND SEX-GUILT by Michele Laaksonen B.A. May 2003, University of Richmond B.S. August 2003, University of Richmond M.S. May 2005, Radford University M.A. May 2009, Old Dominion University A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculties of Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk State University, and Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY VIRGINIA CONSORTIUM PROGRAM IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY August 2016 Approved by: Desi Hacker (Director, Norfolk State University) Lula Sawyer (Member, Norfolk State University) Robin Lewis (Member, Old Dominion University) Rick Handel (Member, Eastern Virginia Medical School) Scott Debb (Member, Norfolk State University) ABSTRACT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAUMA-RELATED SHAME, DISORDERED BEHAVIORS, AND CONTEXTUAL FACTORS OF SEXUAL TRAUMA BEYOND TRAIT- SHAME AND SEX-GUILT Michele Laaksonen Virginia Consortium of Clinical Psychology, 2016 Director: Dr. Desi S. Hacker Relatively little is known about the effect of contextual factors of sexual trauma (age at trauma, type of trauma, perpetrator gender, tactics, and relationship) and trauma-related shame and risk-taking motivations. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine this relationship among a sample of 360 undergraduate women with histories of sexual trauma, hypothesizing that trauma-related shame and motivations for participation in extreme sports, drinking games, and sex would differ based on the contextual factors of sexual trauma and the past experience of non- sexual trauma. Age was related to the linear combination of trauma-related shame and risk- taking motivations. Furthermore, contact, relationship, and disclosure were related to the linear combination of trauma-related shame but not risk-taking motivations. Additionally, in all analyses, nonsexual trauma had a significant effect on trauma-related shame; however, nonsexual trauma only had a significant effect on the linear combination of risk-taking motivations in four of the six analyses (i.e., age, contact, gender, and disclosure). Future research should examine other measures to study trauma-related shame and should explore the effects of contextual factors on risk-taking motivations for a wider variety of risky behaviors. iii Copyright, 2016, by Michele Laaksonen, All Rights Reserved. iv This dissertation is dedicated to victims of sexual trauma. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I extend my gratitude to all of those who assisted in this project, to the professors who encourage students to engage in research, and to the individuals who volunteer to participate in research studies. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................1 THE DYNAMICS OF SEXUAL TRAUMA ...............................................................................1 SHAME ........................................................................................................................................4 THE ROLE OF CONTEXTUAL FACTORS ............................................................................13 THE CURRENT STUDY ..........................................................................................................16 II. METHOD ..................................................................................................................................18 PARTICIPANTS ........................................................................................................................18 MEASURES ...............................................................................................................................19 PROCEDURES ..........................................................................................................................39 DATA ANALYSIS PLAN .........................................................................................................41 PRELIMINARY ANALYSES ...................................................................................................43 III. RESULTS ................................................................................................................................49 PRELIMINARY ANALYSES ...................................................................................................49 MAIN ANALYSES ...................................................................................................................58 IV. DISCUSSION ..........................................................................................................................79 TRAUMA-RELATED SHAME ................................................................................................79 RISK-TAKING MOTIVATIONS .............................................................................................79 CONTEXTUAL FACTORS ......................................................................................................80 THE PRESENCE OF NONSEXUAL TRAUMA .....................................................................88 RISK-TAKING MOTIVATIONS AS TRAUMA-RELATED SHAME ..................................91 LIMITATIONS ..........................................................................................................................92 V. CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................................................99 SHAME ......................................................................................................................................99 RISKY BEHAVIOR ................................................................................................................101 ADDITIONAL VARIABLES ..................................................................................................102 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................104 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................136 A. DEMOGRAPHICS QUESTIONNAIRE ...........................................................................136 B. DIRECTIONS ....................................................................................................................138 VITA ............................................................................................................................................139 vii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1. Sample Characteristics ...............................................................................................................50 2. Sample Characteristics of Risk-Taking .....................................................................................51 3. Sample Characteristics for Sexual Assault ................................................................................52 4. Univariate Descriptive Statistics for Dependent Variables and Potential Covariates ...............55 5. Correlations between Potential Covariates and Dependent Variables .......................................56 6. Proposed Levels of the Independent Variables ..........................................................................59 7. Estimated Marginal Means: Age ...............................................................................................61 8. Estimated Marginal Means: Contact ..........................................................................................65 9. Estimated Marginal Means: Gender ..........................................................................................71 10. Estimated Marginal Means: Relationship ................................................................................74 11. Estimated Marginal Means: Disclosure ...................................................................................78 viii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Order of Measures......................................................................................................................39