NCJ Number
177793
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 7 Issue: 3 Dated: 1999 Pages: 1-17
Date Published
1999
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Data from 92 female undergraduates who completed questionnaires that covered their histories of trauma and sexual victimization formed the basis of an analysis of the role of repeated sexual victimization in producing an increased risk for mental disorders, relative to the impacts of sexual victimization only as an adult or only as a child.
Abstract
The participants were recruited as part of a larger study on sexual victimization. They also completed diagnostic interviews that assessed them for mental disorders. Twenty-three participants reported no history of sexual victimization, 17 reported a history of child sexual abuse only, 26 reported a history of adult sexual assault only, and 26 reported a history of both child and adult sexual assault. Twenty-nine participants met criteria for a current Axis I diagnosis of a mental disorder, while 28 reported a lifetime history of a mental disorder, but no current diagnosis. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was the only disorder that differentiated between women with repeated victimization versus child-only or adult-only sexual assault. The results were limited by the small sample size, but they suggested the need to consider adult revictimization as a contributing factor to PTSD related to child sexual abuse. Tables, figure, and 33 references (Author abstract modified)