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Background: Young adult sexual minority women (SMW) are at elevated risk for sexual assault (SA), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and inadequate social support. While SA and PTSD can lead to reductions in social support from close significant others, the impact of SA and PTSD on SMWs’ social support has not previously been assessed. Objective: This study examined the associations of past year SA and PTSD with SMW’s social support from intimate partners, family, and friends. It was hypothesized that SA and PTSD would be negatively associated with support from partners, family and friends, and that PTSD would moderate the effect of SA on support in early adulthood. Method: Young adult SMW in the United States (N = 235) who were M = 23.93 (SD = 2.15) years old, primarily lesbian or bisexual (n = 186, 79.1%) and White (n = 176, 74.9%) completed measures on past year exposure to SA and non-SA trauma, PTSD, and social support from intimate partners, family and friends. Results: PTSD was associated with less social support from partners, (b = −0.06, SE = 0.02, p = .010, R² change= .02), family, (b = −0.06, SE = 0.03, p = .025, R² change= .02), and friends, (b = −0.07, SE = 0.02, p = .008, R² change= .02). There was a significant interaction between PTSD and SA on social support from partners (b = −0.01, SE = 0.01, p = .047, R2 change= .01). Neither non-SA nor SA trauma was associated with support from family or friends. Conclusions: Results underscore the potential impact of recent SA on intimate partnerships for young adult SMW with more severe PTSD. Future work should explore how addressing PTSD and improving social support quality may help SMW recover from traumatic experiences and ameliorate the effects of SA on intimate partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Young adult sexual minority women (SMW) are at elevated risk for sexual assault (SA), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and inadequate social support. While SA and PTSD can lead to reductions in social support from close significant others, the impact of SA and PTSD on SMWs' social support has not previously been assessed. Objective: This study examined the associations of past year SA and PTSD with SMW's social support from intimate partners, family, and friends. It was hypothesized that SA and PTSD would be negatively associated with support from partners, family and friends, and that PTSD would moderate the effect of SA on support in early adulthood. Method: Young adult SMW in the United States ( N  = 235) who were M  = 23.93 ( SD  = 2.15) years old, primarily lesbian or bisexual ( n  = 186, 79.1%) and White ( n  = 176, 74.9%) completed measures on past year exposure to SA and non-SA trauma, PTSD, and social support from intimate partners, family and friends. Results: PTSD was associated with less social support from partners, ( b  = -0.06, SE =  0.02, p  = .010, R 2 change  = .02), family, ( b  = -0.06, SE =  0.03, p  = .025, R 2 change  = .02), and friends, ( b  = -0.07, SE =  0.02, p  = .008, R 2 change  = .02). There was a significant interaction between PTSD and SA on social support from partners ( b  = -0.01, SE =  0.01 , p  = .047, R 2 change  = .01). Neither non-SA nor SA trauma was associated with support from family or friends. Conclusions: Results underscore the potential impact of recent SA on intimate partnerships for young adult SMW with more severe PTSD. Future work should explore how addressing PTSD and improving social support quality may help SMW recover from traumatic experiences and ameliorate the effects of SA on intimate partnerships.

Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) results from exposure to traumatic events. Social support is negatively related to PTSD symptoms in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. It is unclear, however, if social support is associated with treatment response for PTSD. The current study evaluated the extent to which social support was associated with PTSD treatment response among treatment-seeking veterans receiving prolonged exposure (PE). It was hypothesized that social support would improve PTSD treatment response and that PTSD symptom reduction would improve social support., Method: A total of 123 veterans were recruited from a Veterans Affairs Medical Center and evaluated for PTSD, diagnostic-related symptoms, and social support. All participants received PE. Data were analyzed using mixed-effects models., Results: Findings suggested that elevated social support during treatment was associated with greater reductions in PTSD symptoms during treatment. Social support also increased during treatment. Increases in social support were not moderated by PTSD symptoms during treatment., Conclusions: These findings suggest that social support and PTSD symptoms are related throughout treatment. Social support moderated the change in PTSD symptoms, whereas PTSD symptoms did not moderate changes in social support.