Graduate Studies, UNL

 

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

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First Advisor

David DiLillo

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Committee Members

Anna Jaffe, Kathryn Holland, Katie Edwards

Department

Psychology

Date of this Version

6-29-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Citation

A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy

Major: Psychology

Under the supervision of Professor David DiLillo

Lincoln, Nebraska, May 2026

Comments

Copyright 2026, Madison Elle Edwards. Used by permission

Abstract

Alcohol-involved sexual violence (SV), in which unwanted sexual contact is attempted or obtained without consent during or after the victim’s alcohol use is a major public health issue among young women. Research consistently shows that alcohol-involved SV can have particularly harmful mental and physical health consequences. Moreover, survivors who were drinking are more likely to receive negative reactions (e.g., blame, minimization) when they disclose their SV experiences to informal supports (e.g., friends, family). These negative reactions are consistently linked to negative psychosocial outcomes. However, little research on negative disclosure reactions has examined the content of survivors’ disclosures. The present study examines whether the content of survivors’ disclosures—disclosure of alcohol use and the extent to which they express self-blame and label their experience as assaultive—may be important mechanisms through which alcohol impairment at the time of assault impacts negative social reactions from supports. We hypothesized that greater alcohol impairment would predict greater negative reactions, both directly and indirectly through a) more detail about impairment, b) greater self-blame, and c) less label use within the disclosure. Online survey data came from 546 women aged 18 to 25 who reported an adult SV in which they consumed alcohol prior and first disclosed the experience to an informal support provider. Greater alcohol impairment was not associated with greater negative reactions in the structural model. Supporting hypothesis two, greater alcohol impairment and greater negative reactions were indirectly related via greater self-blame. Contrary to predictions, a significant indirect effect was found via greater label use at disclosure and there was no effect via level of drinking detail. Findings highlight that disclosure content may shape how informal supports respond to disclosures of alcohol-involved SV. Programming that incorporates examples of survivors who share greater self-blame and greater labeling related to alcohol-involved sexual violence may help to reduce negative reactions (e.g., blame, taking control) from informal supports.

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