Predicting long-term outcomes for women sexually abused in childhood: Contribution of abuse severity versus family environment

Child sexual abuse (CSA) has been associated with adverse adult psychosocial outcomes, although some reports describe minimal long-term effects. The search for explanations for the heterogeneous outcomes in women with CSA has led to an examination of a range of CSA-related factors, from the severity...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child abuse & neglect 2005-03, Vol.29 (3), p.269-284
Main Authors: Fassler, Irene R., Amodeo, Maryann, Griffin, Margaret L., Clay, Cassandra M., Ellis, Michael A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child Abuse
Child abuse & neglect
Child Abuse, Sexual - classification
Child Abuse, Sexual - psychology
Child Abuse, Sexual - statistics & numerical data
Child Sexual Abuse
Child, Preschool
Childhood sexual abuse
CSA Severity Scale development
Effects
Families & family life
Family
Family Environment
Family Life
Female
Females
Forecasting - methods
Humans
Long term
Long-term outcomes
Measures (Individuals)
Medical sciences
Outcomes
Predictions
Predictors
Prevalence
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Severity
Severity (of Disability)
Sex crimes
Sexual Abuse
Siblings
Social Support
Surveys and Questionnaires
Trauma Severity Indices
USA
Victimology
Women
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Description
Summary:Child sexual abuse (CSA) has been associated with adverse adult psychosocial outcomes, although some reports describe minimal long-term effects. The search for explanations for the heterogeneous outcomes in women with CSA has led to an examination of a range of CSA-related factors, from the severity of individual CSA incidents to the childhood family environment. This study compares three factors for predicting adult outcomes: a multidimensional CSA Severity Scale, the presence or absence of CSA, and family environment. The effect of CSA on adult outcomes was examined among 290 community-dwelling women raised in intact families. Standardized measures and a focused interview were used to collect data, with siblings as collateral informants. Comparison of a multidimensional CSA Severity Scale to a dichotomous measure of the presence or absence of CSA showed that the Severity Scale did not have greater predictive value for adult outcomes than the dichotomous measure, nor was it as parsimonious. Childhood family environment scales added significantly to the predictive ability of the dichotomous measure. The specific characteristics of a CSA experience may be less important than the occurrence of CSA and the family environment of women for predicting long-term outcomes. French-language abstract not available at time of publication. Spanish-language abstract not available at time of publication.
ISSN:0145-2134
1873-7757
DOI:10.1016/j.chiabu.2004.12.006