NCJ Number
157192
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 10 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1995) Pages: 259-274
Date Published
1995
Length
16 pages
Annotation
The relationship between abuse-specific variables and levels of depression, anxiety, and self-worth were examined in a racially mixed sample of 134 female victims of child sexual abuse.
Abstract
The participants came from three southern California facilities: a shelter facility, a residential treatment center, and the child outpatient unit of a community mental health center. Participants were ages 6-18 with an average age of 13.47 years at the time of the assessment. They completed three self-report measures: the Children's Depression Inventory, the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, and the Self-Perception Profile for Children. Multivariate analysis of the results revealed that penetration predicted a more serious outcome on all study variables. An interaction effect also occurred between force and the identity of the perpetrator. Victims abused with force by a nonfather figure had much higher levels of distress than those abused by a nonfather figure without force. However, force did not predict a more serious outcome in victims abused by father figures. In addition, age, age at onset, duration, and whether the victim was removed from the home after the abuse had no relationship to the levels of symptoms. Tables and 42 references (Author abstract modified)