Development of a brief bedside tool to screen women sexual assault survivors for risk of persistent posttraumatic stress six months after sexual assault.

This study aims to develop and validate a brief bedside tool to screen women survivors presenting for emergency care following sexual assault for risk of persistent elevated posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) six months after assault. Participants were 547 cisgender women sexual assault survivors who presented to one of 13 sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) programs for medical care within 72 h of a sexual assault and completed surveys one week and six months after the assault. Data on 222 potential predictors from the SANE visit and the week one survey spanning seven broadly-defined risk factor domains were candidates for inclusion in the screening tool. Elevated PTSS six months after assault were defined as PCL-5 > 38. LASSO logistic regression was applied to 20 randomly selected bootstrapped samples to evaluate variable importance. Logistic regression models comprised of the top 10, 20, and 30 candidate predictors were tested in 10 cross-validation samples drawn from 80% of the sample. The resulting instrument was validated in the remaining 20% of the sample. AUC of the finalized eight-item prediction tool was 0.77 and the Brier Score was 0.19. A raw score of 41 on the screener corresponds to a 70% risk of elevated PTSS at 6 months. Similar performance was observed for elevated PTSS at one year. This brief, eight-item risk stratification tool consists of easy-to-collect information and, if validated, may be useful for clinical trial enrichment and/or patient screening.

"I still feel so lost": experiences of women receiving SANE care during the year after sexual assault.

OBJECTIVE: Emergency caregivers provide initial care to women sexual assault (SA) survivors. An improved understanding of the issues facing this population can aide emergency care practitioners in providing high quality care. The goal of this study was to share the experiences of women SA survivors with the emergency care practitioners that care for them. METHODS: English-speaking adult women (n = 706) who received SA Nurse Examiner (SANE) evaluation within 72 hours of SA at 1 of 13 geographically distributed sites were enrolled in a prospective, longitudinal multi-site observational study. We qualitatively analyzed responses to the open-ended question: "What do you think is most important for researchers to understand about your experience since the assault?" asked 1 week, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year after enrollment. RESULTS: Themes from responses (n = 1434) from 590 women (84% of study sample) fell into 12 broad categories: daily life, justice, medical, and social services, mental health, physical health, prior trauma, recovery, romantic relationships, safety, self, shame, and social interactions. Responses demonstrated that the assault permeates many aspects of assault survivors' daily lives. CONCLUSIONS: Qualitative analyses of open-ended responses from a large cohort of women SA survivors receiving SANE care highlight the challenges for survivors and can increase understanding among the emergency care practitioners who care for them. The authors propose a brief acronym to help emergency care practitioners recall important messages for SA survivors.

Protocol for the first large-scale emergency care-based longitudinal cohort study of recovery after sexual assault: the Women's Health Study.

INTRODUCTION: Worldwide, an estimated 10%-27% of women are sexually assaulted during their lifetime. Despite the enormity of sexual assault as a public health problem, to our knowledge, no large-scale prospective studies of experiences and recovery over time among women presenting for emergency care after sexual assault have been performed. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Women ≥18 years of age who present for emergency care within 72 hours of sexual assault to a network of treatment centres across the USA are approached for study participation. Blood DNA and RNA samples and brief questionnaire and medical record data are obtained from women providing initial consent. Full consent is obtained at initial 1 week follow-up to analyse blood sample data and to perform assessments at 1 week, 6 weeks, 6 months and 1 year. These assessments include evaluation of survivor life history, current health and recovery and experiences with treatment providers, law enforcement and the legal system. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study is approved by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the IRB of each participating study site. We hope to present the results of this study to the scientific community at conferences and in peer-reviewed journals.

State Policy on School-based Sex Education: A Content Analysis Focused on Sexual Behaviors, Relationships, and Identities.

Objectives: Adolescents in the United States face crucial sexual health behavior issues, including consequences of sexually transmitted infections and diseases, pregnancy, and sexual violence. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth are disproportionately affected by these issues. State policies about sex education in K-12 schools shape what is taught to students about sexual health. In this study, we analyzed the content of school-based sex education policies of all 50 states and focuses on sexual behaviors, relationships, and identities. Methods: Policies analyzed include state statutes, state board of education policies, and state department of education or public instruction curriculum standards. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Results: Most state policies emphasized abstinence from sexual behavior and did not require education about contraceptive and barrier methods. Few policies required detailed information about contraceptive and barrier methods to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Around half of states addressed relationship issues (ie, healthy relationships, sexual decision-making, and sexual violence); however, few states required content on communication about sexual consent. Eight state policies explicitly stigmatized homosexuality. Conversely, 12 states were inclusive of diverse sexual orientations and 7 states were inclusive of diverse gender identities. Conclusion: Sex education policies should be evidence-based and inclusive of sexual diversity.

Activating Adult Allies From a Rural Community on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Student Issues in School Using Photovoice.

PURPOSE: Many students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) face hostile school environments that can negatively impact their mental health and education. This study involved a photovoice project where high school students from a Gay-Straight Alliance in the rural southeastern United States took photographs that depicted the issues LGBTQ students were facing and then exhibited their photographs and stories to individuals from the school system and local community to promote awareness, dialogue, and action. METHODS: 20 adults who attended the photovoiceexhibit responded to an online survey about their experiences with the intervention. RESULTS: 85% of adults reported that the interventionmade them think about issues they had not previously considered, including the struggles LGBTQ youth face, gender issues, and living in a rural community. Common emotions experienced at the interventionincluded feeling excited, concern for the youth, and proud of the youth. Further, 81% of the adults indicated that they would take action or behave differently as a result of the intervention, including supporting and affirming LGBTQ students, using gender-neutral and -inclusive language, and confronting bias in themselves and others. CONCLUSIONS: Photovoice is a promising strategy for LGBTQ students to activate adult allies in their community.