Sarah Ullman, PhD

Dr. Sarah Ullman is Professor of Criminology, Law, &; Justice and Affiliate Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a social psychologist whose research concerns the impact of sexual assault and traumatic life events on women’s health and substance abuse outcomes and rape avoidance/prevention. She has received funding from the NIMH, NIAAA, and foundations for her research. She has conducted NIH-funded longitudinal studies of risk and protective factors for PTSD and substance abuse and other health-related outcomes in rape victims, was Co-investigator on an NIH grant to evaluate a social support network intervention for rape victims and their informal support networks and is currently conducting an NIH funded study of rape victims and their informal support network members. Dr. Ullman has published extensively about sexual assault, including the 2^nd edition of her research monograph entitled Talking About Sexual Assault: Society’s Response to Survivors published in 2023 by the American Psychological Association.

Ullman, S.E. (2023). (2^nd Ed). Talking about sexual assault: Society’s response to survivors. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.

Ullman, S.E. (in press). Facilitators of sexual assault disclosure: A dyadic study of female survivors and their informal supports. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse.

Ullman, S.E., Shepp, V., & O’Callaghan, E. (in press). Sexual assault survivors’ experiences of intimate partner violence: A qualitative study of survivors and their informal supports. Journal of Family Violence. online first.

Pinciotti, C. M., Horrocks, B. K., Witthuhn, L. A., & Ullman, S. E. (2023, April 13). Sexual assault disclosure and outcomes in the LGB+ community. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. Advance online publication.

Ullman, S.E. (2023). Correlates of social reactions to victims’ disclosures of sexual assault and intimate partner violence: A systematic review. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, 24(1) 29–43.

Goodman-Williams, R., Clark, S., Campbell, R., & Ullman, S.E. (2022). Longitudinal patterns of PTSD symptoms among sexual assault survivors: A latent transition analysis. Psychological Trauma. Online first.

Ullman, S.E. (2022). Response to Basile’s (2022) Commentary on “Rape Resistance: A Critical Piece of all Women’s Empowerment and Holistic Rape Prevention. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma. Online first.

Edwards, K.M., Wheeler, L., Siller, L., Murphy, S.B., Ullman, S.E., Harvey, R., Palmer, K., Lee, K., & Marshall, J. (2022). Outcomes associated with participation in a sober living home for women with histories of domestic and sexual violence victimization and substance use disorders. Traumatology. Online first.

Mauer, V., Edwards, K., Waterman, E., Dardis, C., Dworkin, E., Rodriguez, L., & Ullman, S.E. (2022). Disclosure recipients’ perceptions related to helping victims of dating and sexual violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. online first.

O’Callaghan, E.O., & Ullman, S.E. (2022). Exploring correlates of social reactions to disclosure among Latina sexual assault survivors. Violence and Victims, 37(4), 1-18.

Edwards, K.M.,  Mauer, V., Huff, M., Farquhar-Leicester, A., Sutton, T., & Ullman, S.E. (2022). Disclosure of sexual assault among sexual and gender minorities: A systematic literature review. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse. Online first.

Edwards, K.M., Ullman, S.E., Siller, L., Murphy, S.B., & Harvey, R., & Wheeler, L. (2022). What predicts length of stay in a sober living home among women with histories of victimization and addiction?: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Community Psychology, 50, 2508-2514.

Edwards, K., Waterman, E., Ullman, S., Rodriguez, L., Dardis, C., & Dworkin, E. A. (2022). A pilot evaluation of an intervention to improve social reactions to sexual and partner violence disclosures. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(5-6), 2510–2534.

Edwards, K., Ullman, S.E., Waterman, E., & Dardis, T. (2022). Predictors of disclosure recipients’ social reactions to victims’ disclosures of dating and sexual violence: A longitudinal study of college students. Journal of interpersonal Violence, 37(5-6), 2633-2658.

O’Callaghan, E., Ullman, S.E., Shepp, V., & Harris, C. (2022). Mental health help-seeking after a sexual assault: A dyadic study of sexual assault survivors and informal support providers. Traumatology. Online first.

Waterman, E. A., Edwards, K. M., Baker, M. J., Ullman, S. E., Dardis, C. M., & Rodriguez, L. M. (2022). A mixed-method process evaluation of an intervention to improve social reactions to disclosures of sexual assault and partner abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37, NP851-NP877.

Waterman, E., Edwards, K., Rodriguez, L., Ullman, S., & Dardis, C. (2022). Predictors of uptake and retention in an intervention to improve social reactions to disclosures of sexual assault and partner abuse. Journal of American College Health, 70, 199-208.

Ullman, S.E., Waterman, E.A., Edwards, K.M., Marshall, J., Dardis, C. M., Rodriguez, L. M., & Dworkin, E. R. (2022). The feasibility of a protocol for collecting victim data via disclosure recipient referrals. Violence Against Women, 28(12-13), 3194-3214.

Bogen, K.W., Orchowski, L.M., Ullman, S. (2021). Disclosing sexual assault on social media: Questions for research and practice. Women & Therapy Special Issue: Resistance & Recovery in the #MeToo Era. Online first publication.

O’Callaghan, E., & Ullman, S.E. (2021). Are all substance-involved sexual assaults alike? A comparison of victim alcohol use, drug, use, and combined substance use in sexual Assaults. Women and Criminal Justice. Online first publication

Dardis, C. M., Davin, K. R., Rodriguez, L. M., Dworkin, E. R., Edwards, K. M., Ullman, S. E., & Waterman, E.A. (2021). Prospective predictors of receiving disclosures of partner abuse and sexual assault among college students. Psychology of Violence, 11(3), 307-311.

Dardis, C.M., Rodriguez, L., Ullman, S.E., Waterman, E.A., Dworkin, E. R., & Edwards, K.M. (2021). Bidirectional associations between alcohol use and intimate partner violence and sexual assault victimization among college women.Addictive Behaviors. Online first publication.

Edwards, K., Waterman, E., & Dardis, T., Ullman, S.E., Rodriguez, L., & Dworkin, E. (2021). A program to improve social reactions to sexual and partner violence disclosures reduces posttraumatic stress in subsequently severely-victimized participants. Psychological Trauma, 13(3), 368-375.

PhD, Social Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Postdoctoral Fellow, Health Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA

• Harris, C., & Ullman, S.E. (2023, November). Social reactions received by multiple perpetrator sexual assault (MPSA) survivors. American Society of Criminology meeting. Philadelphia, PA. (Accepted).
• Ullman, S.E. (2023, November). How can we improve reactions to sexual assault disclosure? Presentation at the American Society of Criminology meeting, Philadelphia, PA. (Accepted).
• Ullman, S.E. (2023, April). Social Reactions to Sexual Assault Survivors: Correlates, Impacts, and Interventions.  Invited webinar presentation for Duquesne University DOJ SANE Campus Network Program. US Department of Justice: Washington, DC.
• Ullman, S.E. (2023, August). Sexual assault disclosure and therapeutic responses. American Psychological Association. Washington, DC. (Critical conversation abstract submitted).
• Ullman, S.E. (2023, February). Conducting virtual interviews with sexual assault survivors. The Qualitative Report Virtual Conference. Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
• Ullman, S.E. (2022, May 26-29). Invited discussant, Symposium. The relationship between social interactions and psychological distress after trauma: Recent advances in mapping and measurement.. American Psychological Society Annual Convention, Chicago, IL
• Harris, C.H., & Ullman, S.E. (2022, April 27-May 1). Does number of offenders matter? Differences in social reactions received by sexual assault survivors. Western Psychological Association, Portland, OR.
• Ullman, S.E. (2022, February). Sexual assault and social reactions. Invited webinar presentation for victim service providers. Center for Victim Research. Washington, DC
• Edwards, K.M., Siller, L., Murphy, S., Wheeler, L., Ullman, S., Harvey, R., Palmer, K., Lee., K., & Marshall, J. (2022, March 3-6). Outcomes Associated with Participation in a Sober Living Home for Women with Histories of Domestic and Sexual Violence. [Paper presentation]. The Association for Women in Psychology’s Feminist Psychology in the 21st Century Conference, Chicago, IL, United States.

Research Grants

• Principal Investigator, Informal social network dyads and comorbid problem drinking and PTSD in rape victims, Administrative Supplement Award, National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. $22,538, TC 9/13/2021-7/31/2024.
• Principal Investigator, Informal social network dyads and comorbid problem drinking and PTSD in rape victims, National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. R01 $894,400, TC 9/25/2020-7/31/2024.
• Consultant, Trauma, Mental Health and Disclosures of Sexual Violence. The Icelandic Research Fund 2018. PI: Rannveig Sigríður Sigurvinsdóttir, Bryndís Björk Ásgeirsdóttir. May, 2018 – Present. $516,390.