The Effects of Child Sexual Abuse

Journal of …, 2009

AB: Abstract Childhood sexual abuse is a traumatic life event that may cause psychiatric disorders such as PTSD and depression. During 2003During -2004 sexually abused children were referred to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic of Ege University in Izmir, Turkey. Two years later, the psychological adjustment of these children (M age = 9.4 years, SD = 3.63 years, range = 5 to 16 years) is evaluated. Semistructured interviews, a form for the sociodemographic characteristics, are used for evaluations by a child psychiatrist who is blind to the first evaluation. It is determined that sexually abused children have more psychiatric disorders within the first year than 2 years later. However, some behavior problems occur at both short-term and long-term follow-ups. Abstract This study examined clinical characteristics and laboratory-measured impulsive behavior of adolescents engaging in either non-suicidal self-injury with (NSSI+SA; n = 25) or without (NSSI-Only; n = 31) suicide attempts. We hypothesized that adolescent with NSSI+SA would exhibit more severe clinical symptoms and higher levels of behavioral impulsivity compared to adolescents with NSSI-Only. Adolescents were recruited from an inpatient psychiatric hospital unit and the 2 groups were compared on demographic characteristics, psychopathology, self-reported clinical ratings, methods of non-suicidal self-injury, and 2 laboratory impulsivity measures. Primary evaluations were conducted during psychiatric hospitalization, and a subset of those tested during hospitalization was retested 4-6 weeks after discharge.

Journal of Adolescence, 1998

In this study data from a large representative community sample of adolescents were analysed to investigate the relationship between a history of sexual abuse and adolescent functioning. Emotional problems, behavioural problems, suicidal thoughts and behaviour of boys and girls with a history of sexual abuse were compared to those in a matched control group of boys and girls without such a history. Both sexually abused boys and girls reported significantly more emotional problems, behavioural problems, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts than their non-abused counterparts. The results also indicated that the experience of sexual abuse carried far more consequences for boys than for girls regarding the use of alcohol, aggressive/criminal behaviour, use of drugs, and the amount of truancy, as well as regarding suicidal thoughts and behaviour. For example, whereas 2•6% of the non-abused boys reported a former suicide attempt, this percentage was 13 times higher for the sexually abused boys (26•5%). The results of this paper lend support to the call for further research investigating gender differences in response to sexual abuse.

International journal of …, 2011

ABSTRACT. By means of a meta-analytic review, the current study investigated the efficacy of the psychological treatment of children and adolescents that have suffered sexual abuse. Thirty-three articles met our selection criteria and, using the group as the analysis unit, the ...

Child Abuse & Neglect, 2016

Child sexual abuse (CSA) continues to be a significant problem with significant short and long term consequences. However, extant literature is limited by the reliance on retrospective recall of adult samples, single-time assessments, and lack of longitudinal data during the childhood and adolescent years. The purpose of this study was to compare internalizing and externalizing behavior problems of those with a history of sexual abuse to those with a history of maltreatment, but not sexual abuse. We examined whether gender moderated problems over time. Data were drawn from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) at ages 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 (N = 977). The Child Behavior Checklist was used to assess internalizing and externalizing problems. Maltreatment history and types were obtained from official Child Protective Services (CPS) records. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) were used to assess behavior problems over time by maltreatment group. Findings indicated significantly more problems in the CSA group than the maltreated group without CSA over time. Internalizing problems were higher for sexually abused boys compared to girls. For sexually abused girls internalizing problems, but not externalizing problems increased with age relative to boys. This pattern was similar among maltreated but not sexually abused youth. Further efforts are needed to examine the psychological effects of maltreatment, particularly CSA longitudinally as well as better understand possible gender differences in order to best guide treatment efforts.

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (and The Campbell Library), 2012

Child Abuse & Neglect, 1987

Thirty-seven girls and twelve boys who had been sexually abused at an average of 2.6 years previously were traced and reviewed. The nonoffending parents participated in a structured interview and the children were assessed using the Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale and the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist. Each child was matched with a child not known to have been sexually abused and these control children underwent a similar psychological assessment. Interviews with the nonoffending parents found that 76% of the children were thought to be less confident than before, 30% had fewer friends, and 20% were more aggressive. Increased sexual awareness was noted in 24%. School teachers reported that 28% still had behavior problems, 17% had repeated a year at school, and a further 17% had deteriorated in their school work. The sexually abused girls had significantly lower self-esteem than the control girls. There was no difference in self-esteem between the control and the sexually abused boys. There was a higher incidence of stranger assault in the boys compared with the girls. The Child Behavior Checklist completed by the parents, the Teacher Report Form, and the Youth Self-Report of the Child Behavior Checklist showed that a highly significant proportion of sexually abused children fell into the clinical range. Sexual abuse appears to have long-term adverse consequences for many of the victims. This may have implications for their ability ttr relate to others, for the adult friendships they will make, and eventually for the way they will relate to their own children.

International journal of academic research in business & social sciences, 2024

For children to develop in a healthy manner, they must have positive and healthy experiences. On the other hand, some children have gone through traumatic events as a result of early sexual abuse. X, a sixteen-year-old girl, was sexually abused by her own brothers from the age of six until fifteen. She was sexually abused and assaulted by her two brothers more than 20 times, and she has suffered from traumatic experiences up until this point. X experiences a range of symptoms, including behavior, emotion, physiology, spiritual, irrational beliefs and maladaptive coping. X acknowledges that the traumatic experience she went through is still plaguing her and that she needs assistance to deal with all the fallout. In order to support victims of child sexual abuse like X in her future development, it is hoped that the findings of this study will aid future researchers in creating and establishing a helping model.

EMOTIONAL REPERCUSSION IN CHILDREN VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ABUSE: A NARRATIVE REVIEW (Atena Editora), 2024

Sexual abuse is a phenomenon that affects different spheres of a person's life, especially in the emotional field. It is observed that society is organized through social roles, which establish expectations about the behavior of individuals. The objective of the study was to understand the emotional repercussions of sexual abuse on children and adolescents, analyzing the influence of gender roles on this event. The research was framed as a narrative literature review, of an exploratory nature, the data collection took place in the following databases: PUBMED, LILACS, CAPES, SCIELO and PEPSIC. The descriptors used to search for data were “sexual abuse”, “children” and “emotional”. The present study found that the consequences produced by sexual abuse are related to the manifestation of symptoms characteristic of nosological conditions. It is understood that these behaviors come in an intensified way and cause harm in several aspects required for the development of these subjects. The other outcomes suggest that children and adolescents who are victims of abuse exhibit behavioral changes, and these changes are presented as difficulty understanding aspects about sexuality, concerns about body image and inability to interact with the changes generated by development, evocation of behaviors non-suicidal and suicidal self-harm and experiences of negative affect. It is concluded that a tiny amount of research that met the criteria analyzed the behavioral and emotional repercussions in light of gender roles. The consequences entailed, for the most part, are perceived as generalizable to boys and girls.

El presente estudio consistió en determinar la presencia del maltrato infantil y abuso sexual en el hogar en adolescentes escolarizados con edades comprendidas entre 14 y 16 años, matriculados a 2010 en colegios públicos de la de la ciudad de Santa Marta. Los participantes fueron 229 jóvenes. Las variables medidas fueron la edad, el tipo de maltrato y el género. Los resultados indican que la tendencia al maltrato psicológico fue de 29.3%, de maltrato físico 13.3% y de abuso sexual de 32.3%. Con relación al género se halló que las mujeres han sido objeto en mayor porcentaje de maltrato físico y abuso sexual que los hombres y éstos han sido objeto de mayor maltrato psicológico que las mujeres; respecto a la edad los jóvenes de 14 años presentaron mayor porcentaje de maltrato y abuso que en los otros rangos etarios. Se concluye que tres (3) de cada 10 estudiantes ha sido objeto de abuso sexual, tres ha sido objeto de maltrato psicológico y uno de maltrato físico. (DUAZARY 2011 No. 2, 262 - 269)

Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 2014

Background: There is an established relationship between childhood maltreatment and later psychopathology, but most studies have used self-reports and only consider a small number of experiences. The main aim of this study was to examine predictors of psychopathology by comparing two sources (official records vs. selfreports) of ten different childhood adversities among youths who were identified by Child Protective Services (CPS). We also used a comparison group that was not identified by CPS. This study also compared, in terms of psychopathology, three groups of respondents (under-report; agreement; and over-report) based on the discrepancy between the two sources of childhood adversity. Method: The sample included 136 youths, ages 14-23 years, identified by CPS prior to age 12 as being maltreated and who lived with their family for at least 5 years. The comparison group included 80 youths. Results: The identified youths were not different from the comparison group in global psychopathology. Psychopathology was associated only with the total amount of self-reported adverse experiences, with depressive symptoms being predicted by both documented and selfreported sexual abuse. Females reported and had more documented adversities, presenting an increased risk for psychopathology. The under-report group had a higher mean of documented experiences and a lower mean in psychopathology. Conclusions: Despite the limitations of a self-report methodology, our findings attest to its contribution in predicting health outcomes. Professionals from CPS need to be thorough when assessing and documenting the multiple experiences that may co-occur in a household, paying particular attention when young girls are involved, as the experience of sexual abuse has been shown to be independently associated with later risk of developing depressive symptoms. This process may increase the appropriateness of the chosen interventions.