(PS13-99) Exposure to Sexual Harassment Content on Tiktok and Its Association with Secondary Trauma and Fear of Rape Among Hispanic College Women

Introduction: Social media platforms, such as TikTok, may pose the risk of exposing individuals to content related to sexual harassment, potentially leading to adverse mental health outcomes. Minimal research has focused on the negative influence of social media use on the mental health of Hispanic college women. This study examined the impact of exposure to media content related to sexual harassment on secondary trauma and anticipatory fear of sexual assault in this cultural group. The study tested the following hypotheses: 1) Increases in exposure to TikTok content related to sexual harassment would be associated with elevated secondary trauma symptoms and fear of sexual assault, and 2) the relationship between media exposure and mental health outcomes would be moderated by levels of previous experience of sexual harassment.

Method: 215 college women, 84.7% Hispanic, completed demographic questions, the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), the Fear of Rape Scale (FORS), sexual harassment items that were culled from previous scientific articles that operationalized various instances of sexual harassment activities (SH), and items assessing exposure to content related to sexual harassment contact on TikTok. P<span class="normaltextrun">articipants responded to the PCL-5 in reference to distressing sexual harassment content they viewed on TikTok. Moderation analyses were performed using PROCESS (Hayes, 2022), with exposure level as the predictor, PCL-5 and FORS scores as separate outcomes, and SH as the moderator.

Results: The frequency of exposure to content related to sexual harassment on TikTok was a significant predictor for the severity of secondary trauma symptoms (B = 2.52, p < .01) and levels of anticipatory fear of sexual assault (B = 2.24, p < .01). Past sexual harassment experience did not significantly moderate the relationship between exposure to this type of content and secondary trauma (interaction: B = 0.170, p = .31) or anticipatory fear of sexual assault (interaction: B = -0.173, p = .40).

Discussion: The current findings suggest that Hispanic college women who are frequently exposed to TikTok content reporting sexual harassment are likely to experience heightened secondary trauma symptoms and anticipatory fear of sexual assault. Similar magnitudes of the association between media exposure and negative emotional outcomes were found for women with and without past negative sexual experiences, suggesting the powerful impact of frequent media exposure on viewers’ mental health beyond the effects of past negative sexual experiences. Preventive efforts and interventions to mitigate the negative effects of such exposure may be warranted, including promoting digital literacy skills and providing access to mental health support resources. In addition, it is essential to educate viewers on the potential risks of secondary trauma and other adverse effects associated with exposure to certain media content. Future research should explore additional moderating variables, such as coping strategies, social support, and resilience factors, as well as potential mechanisms underlying the association between exposure to negative content on social media and mental health outcomes.