NCJ Number
128864
Date Published
1990
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study determined whether men with histories of childhood sexual abuse differed significantly in their psychological adjustment from other men.
Abstract
Sixty-nine men were recruited for the study. All subjects were involved in outpatient mental health psychotherapy. Five scales (scales 4 through 8) of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory were used to assess psychological disturbances in the subjects. Forty-four of the subjects had experienced childhood sexual abuse prior to the age of 16. Thirty were incest victims; the primary incest perpetrator was the mother (61.5 percent) or the father (52 percent). Thirty-one of the victims had experienced nonfamilial sexual assault as children; the most common perpetrator was a neighbor (23.8 percent). The victim group differed significantly from the nonvictim control group on all five scales as well as on a multivariate analysis of variance that measured the overall maladjustment of the victims compared to nonvictims. The sexually abused men were significantly more likely to have manifested compulsive behaviors such as chemical addiction and abuse, sexual acting out, compulsive spending, compulsive overworking, and compulsive overeating. They were more likely to have had problems with truancy in school and later to have been involved in criminal behavior. Overall, the victims were more psychologically disturbed than the nonvictims. 3 figures, 5 tables, and 38 references