Women's Experiences of Social Reactions From Informal and Formal Supports: Using a Modified Administration of the Social Reactions Questionnaire

A growing literature links social reactions to disclosures of intimate violence to posttraumatic outcomes. The Social Reactions Questionnaire (SRQ), a widely used measure developed to assess social reactions, asks about reactions received from people generally. The ability to examine the impact of social reactions from specific groups of people-such as criminal justice personnel versus community-based providers-has become increasingly more important from both research and practice perspectives. For example, as sexual assault responses nationally have relied on community-coordinated models that involve both criminal justice and community-based systems, tools are lacking to systematically assess the impact of social reactions from criminal justice personnel and community-based providers on survivors. Using the SRQ, the current study asked women to report separately on reactions received from criminal justice personnel, community-based providers, and informal supports. We recruited a diverse community sample of women (N = 228, ages 18-63, 19% lesbian/bisexual, 44% ethnic minority) who experienced a sexual assault in the previous year and disclosed to the criminal justice system and/or a community-based provider. Multilevel analyses revealed considerable variability in the social reactions reported by women across criminal justice personnel, community-based providers, and informal supports. Analyses supported a seven-factor structure for the SRQ when the measure is yoked to particular experiences of disclosure, in this case to criminal justice personnel, community-based providers, or informal supports. The utility of this modified administration and scoring of the SRQ and the importance of considering reactions across different groups are described.