PTSD & Trauma-Related Difficulties in Sexual Minority Women: The Impact of Perceived Social Support

This study examined posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related symptoms among sexual minority (SM) and heterosexual women and the influence of social support on the relationship between SM status and symptoms. We hypothesized that SM women would endorse higher symptoms of PTSD and related difficulties and that social support would moderate the relationship between SM status and symptoms. 

The sample, women seeking treatment for PTSD related to interpersonal violence (n = 477; mean age = 36.07 years; 22.9% SM) completed clinician-administered measures of PTSD and self-report measures of trauma-related difficulties and social support. The rate of PTSD diagnosis was higher for SM women. Social support and SM status were significantly associated with suicidality, self-perceptions, depression, somatic complaints, and functional impairment. The interaction between social support and SM status was significant for both functional impairment (β = -.26) and somatic complaints (β = -.39). High social support had an equal, positive effect among SM and nonminority women, whereas low social support had a greater negative impact among SM women. 

Results suggested the particular salience of social support on functioning and symptom severity among SM women and the potential importance of including interventions addressing social support into PTSD treatments for SM women.

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By:  Weiss BJ1,2, Garvert DW1, Cloitre M1,2,3.

• 1National Center for PTSD, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, USA.
• 2Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA.
• 3Department of Psychiatry and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.

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