Treatment of Rape Victims

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be one of the debilitating and harmful effects of sexual assault. Although many forms of intervention exist for rape-related PTSD, only a few well-controlled studies have been conducted to systematically evaluate the treatment response of women who have been the victims of sexual assault. Overall, cognitive-behavioral interventions for rape-related PTSD, with single or multiple treatment components, have been found to result in a decrease or remission of posttrauma sequelae when compared to no treatment or wait-list control conditions. This article highlights the general methodological issues that are pertinent in the design of studies to evaluate the treatment outcome of rape-related PTSD. The wide range of psychological interventions for the treatment of postrape sequelae are reviewed and special attention is given to cognitive-behavioral interventions because these treatments have been subjected to more rigorous empirical examinations. Finally, suggestions are made to improve the assessment of rape-related PTSD and to predict treatment response in rape victims.