NCJ Number
222828
Journal
Child Maltreatment: Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2008 Pages: 122-132
Date Published
May 2008
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study investigated whether maltreatment experiences other than sexual abuse predicted sexualized behaviors.
Abstract
Findings indicate that early and late reports of physical abuse and late reports of emotional abuse consistently increased the odds of engaging in sexualized behaviors. Early emotional abuse reports were generally associated with decreased odds of exhibiting sexualized behaviors. Maltreatment timing and type, although not typically associated with sexualized behaviors were found to account for significant, albeit small, amounts of variance in sexualized behaviors even when controlling for site differences. Although boys and girls were remarkably similar in terms of the percentage exhibiting any sexualized behavior, the pattern of relationships between maltreatment characteristics and Child Sexual Behavior Inventory (CSBI) domain scores was different for boys and girls. Depending on the precise characteristics or dimensions of child maltreatment that are examined, estimates of the prevalence of developmental and mental health problems for abused children vary from approximately 50 percent to more than 80 percent, and these rates are significantly higher than the prevalence of such problems in socioeconomically comparable samples. The observed higher rates of mental health problems, including anxiety disorders, depression, dissociation, eating disorders, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in maltreated children have been attributed to the experienced maltreatment in combination with exposure to multiple risk factors. Because sexualized behaviors may be an inappropriate and less effective coping mechanism for children, they are likely an indication of affective dysregulation. Data were collected from 690 children who had been maltreated early in life, or who were at risk for early maltreatment as were their caregivers; participants were interviewed in person every 2 years beginning when the children were 4 years old. Tables, references