College health services should implement trauma-informed design to reduce the negative health effects of sexual misconduct

J Am Coll Health. 2025 Jun 17:1-4. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2025.2516606. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Sexual misconduct victimization including sexual assault, sexual harassment, dating/domestic violence, and stalking is widespread among U.S. college students. While survivors often experience negative mental health impacts such as depression and anxiety, positive disclosure experiences and supportive services can reduce these effects. One way to help increase service utilization is to use trauma-informed design (TID), which creates supportive physical and emotional environments for survivors and service providers. Here we provide case examples of how TID has been adopted in campus health centers and argue that TID is an underutilized strategy for ensuring that college student survivors are supported rather than revictimized. We end by providing a checklist, implementation strategy, and funding sources for colleges that are interested in employing TID.

PMID:40527864 | DOI:10.1080/07448481.2025.2516606