NCJ Number
223118
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 19 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2004 Pages: 389-405
Date Published
April 2004
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study examined patterns of shared childhood sexual abuse characteristics and achieved a comparison to patterns of other childhood abuse and poor adult health.
Abstract
Results found significant differences among clusters for childhood emotional abuse and physical abuse, adult physical and psychosocial symptomatology, and depression; there were no significant differences for health care utilization. The purpose of this study was twofold: to cluster women who experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA) according to their shared patterns of CSA characteristics, and to examine differences across clusters on measures of other childhood abuse and adult health. Seven CSA characteristic variables were used for cluster analysis. The seven-cluster solution that emerged ranged from a noncontact extrafamilial CSA cluster that occurred without force only once to the most severe clusters in which penetration by an intrafamilial or extrafamilial abuser occurred multiple times with force. The results promote further understanding of which victims of CSA are more likely to have experienced other forms of childhood abuse and which victims are more at risk for poor health in adulthood. It demonstrates that the experience of CSA varies according to a number of CSA characteristics but has qualitatively meaningful patterns that can be delineated by cluster analysis. This analysis results in a further understanding of which victims of CSA are more likely to have experienced multiple forms of childhood abuse and which victims are more at risk for poor health in adulthood. Data were collected from 130 female family practice patients who had participated in a larger study on the long-term health effects of CSA. Tables, references