Longitudinal Investigation of Stigma and Psychosocial Outcomes Among Women Exposed to Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

Current studies suggest relationships between sexual violence, stigma, and psychosocial functioning but cannot disentangle temporal relationships. We used longitudinal data from the Democratic Republic of Congo to fit models estimating whether stigma predicted the long-term psychosocial well-being of sexual-violence-exposed women who participated in a cognitive processing therapy trial. We found that felt stigma predicted depression and anxiety (β = 0.66, p = .005), traumatic stress (β = 0.54, p = .025), and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV; OR = 2.68, p = .044), but not other social (e.g., group membership) or violence-related (e.g., physical IPV) experiences. The results highlight the need for interventions that integrate stigma reduction alongside psychological care.

Keywords

sexual violence stigma intimate partner violence mental health cognitive processing therapy (CPT)

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