How does Sexual Assault Disclosure Impact the Mental Health and Help-Seeking of Informal Supports?

Research shows that sexual assault (SA) can impact survivors' informal social network members (e.g., friend, family member, romantic partner), who are the most frequently told persons about the assault by women-identified survivors. However, little qualitative work has investigated the impacts on informal support providers (SPs) receiving disclosures of alcohol/drug-related assault, an understudied form of SA. The current qualitative interview study examines the impacts of SA disclosures on informal SPs (N = 27) drawn from a dyadic survivor-SP interview sample using descriptive thematic analysis. Impacts on SPs and their help seeking related to the survivors' alcohol/drug-related SA disclosure included: emotional effects, cognitive and behavioral effects, and impacts on their decisions to seek help from other informal and formal SPs. Implications for research, clinical treatment, and intervention targeting informal SPs of survivors are drawn.