Sometimes those effects are difficult to discern or articulate, one of many reasons that women often fail to report sexual assaults to authorities — or even discuss the incident with loved ones, researchers say.

“There is lots of research showing the survivors cope in many different ways, but there does seem to be a societal image of how they need to act — and if not they are not believed,” Antonia Abbey, the editor of the journal, Psychology of Violence, said in an email.

Kevin Michael Swartout, a psychology professor at Georgia State University who studies sexual violence, agreed.

“Research indicates that people are less likely to believe a victim’s account and believe an assault was less severe when the assault and victim’s response doesn’t follow people’s scripts.”

[Like the Science Times page on Facebook. | Sign up for the Science Times newsletter.]

During Thursday’s hearing, Dr. Blasey was asked by Rachel Mitchell, the prosecutor hired by the committee to question her and Judge Kavanaugh, how she could be certain that the PTSD and anxiety she experienced was caused by the assault she described.