Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Introduction

Sexual abuse is a type of maltreatment widespread in our society today. Despite this fact however, many people still have a distorted view of this form of abuse. This is partially due to the difficulty in defining and reporting sexual abuse. It is also due to the lack of public attention this problem has received in the past. Recently however, new and ongoing research is providing us with better and better insights into the characteristics, causes, consequences, treatment and prevention of sexual abuse. As a result, our understanding of it is rapidly expanding. As you will see here, large part of the research focuses on the effects that childhood sexual abuse has on development in adulthood.

What We Now Know About Adults Sexually Abused in Childhood

Much of the research has attempted to describe the differences (if any) between the experiences of male and female survivors of sexual abuse. One such study by Kendall, Kendall, and Simon (1992) did just that. They interviewed adults sexually abused as children and did indeed find sex differences in experiences, but they also found many similarities. They discovered that while both sexes were equally likely to be sexually abused by natural fathers, girls were more likely to be sexually abused by stepfathers, and boys by friends of the family. Furthermore, the mean onset age of sexual abuse was the same for both sexes (7.6 years). However, the duration was longer for girls (5.6 years) than for boys (3.9years) and therefore typically ended at different ages (13.2 years for girls and 11.5 years for boys). In addition, boys were more likely to experience anal intercourse while girls were more likely to experience fondling from the waist up. Both sexes were as likely to experience fondling form the waist down and oral sex. Lastly, they found that there were no sex differences in the rate of reporting.

It isn't difficult to comprehend why many victims of childhood sexual abuse suffer from various forms of psychological problems. John Hunter (1991) investigated psychosocial dysfunction and came up with results showing that victims displayed more dysfunction than control on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory, and the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale. Hunter also found support indicating that male victims are more likely to suffer from identity conflicts and rumination while females are more likely to suffer from body image distortions.

Derek Jehu (1992) also studied the occurrence of personality problems in adulthood as a result of childhood sexual abuse, using the schema theory. He determined that the sexual abuse leads to the establishment and maintenance of lasting maladaptive schemata. These schemata are then activated by relevant events with accompanying automatic thoughts, emotional arousal, assimilation, accommodation, avoidance, and compensation. This ultimately leads to difficulties with safety, trust, self-esteem, control, and connection.

For those unfortunate adults who have survived childhood sexual abuse, treatment is almost always needed. But when (if ever) do victims seek treatment? Kendall and Kendall (1991) answered that question. Using interviews they investigated the relationship between characteristics of abuse an time before seeking treatment. They discovered four factors that were significantly related to the number of years between the end of the sexual abuse and time of seeking treatment- age at onset of abuse, duration of abuse, whether the abuse was reported to law enforcement, and the number of sexual acts. Results indicated that the mean time between the end of the sexual abuse and the time that treatment was sought was 17 years for both sexes.

Conclusion

With topics such as sexual abuse, it is especially important that research continue. For it is partially through research that the public comes to understand and develop solutions. Sexual abuse is an obviously destructive occurrence with many consequences throughout the person's life. Perhaps that is the most tragic aspect of sexual abuse- while the abuse may stop, the consequences to the victim live on, far into adulthood.

References

Hunter, John A. (1991). A comparison of the psychosocial maladjustment of adult males and females sexually molested as children. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 6(2), 205-217.

Jehu, Derek. (1992). Personality problems among adults molested as children. Sexual and Marital Therapy, 7(3), 231-249.

Kendall, Tackett & Kendall, Kathleen A. (1991). Characteristics of abuse that influence when adults molested as children seek treatment. Journal of interpersonal Violence, 6(4), 486-493.

Kendall, Tackett, Kendall, Kathleen A., & Simon, Arthur F. (1992). A comparison of the abuse experiences of male an d female adults molested as children. Journal of Family Violence, 7(1), 57-62.

Web Resources

Male Sexual Abuse Victims

Adult Children

Contributed by Trystin L. Kleiman, December 2, 1997.

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