EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE

EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE ON FEMALE ADULTS

Childhood sexual abuse continues to be prevalent and prevention or intervention efforts are considered a failure ("Child," 1999; Gelles, 1998). Childhood sexual abuse results in effects that continue into adulthood. Relationships between this sexual abuse and adult problems such as depression, anxiety, drug abuse, attempted suicide, and psychiatric disorders, have been found (McCauley, Kern, Kolodner, Dill, Schroeder, DeChant, Ryden, Derogatis, & Bass, 1997). In addition, effects of this abuse on college students has been indicated by increased drop-out rates for this population (Duncan, 2000). Studies with clinical populations appear to be more prevalent than those with nonclinical populations. A study is needed to investigate specific effects of depression and anxiety for the nonclinical female adult population, and use of the college population will be of particular interest.

The purpose of this study will be to investigate the effects of childhood sexual abuse on female adults, in a nonclinical college population.

The research questions are as follows: What are the effects of childhood sexual abuse on levels of depression and anxiety in adults?

Hypothesis 1: There will be a significant difference the childhood sexual abuse group and the non-sexual abuse group, regarding scores

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that those who suffered from childhood abuse (physical, sexual, and neglect) were over four times as likely to suffer from diagnosed personality disorders. Ten of the 12 categories of personality disorder symptoms categorized by the DSM-IV were related to this abuse (Johnson, Cohen, & Brown, 1999, p. 600). Dissociation is another problem associated with adults who have suffered childhood trauma. Symptoms disrupt consciousness in areas of memory, identity, and environmental perception. It remains unclear if the dissociation is a response to the sexual or physical abuse or whether it includes parental factors such as loss of parents, witnessing violence, or chronic neglect. In a study of 160 psychiatric inpatients, results showed that all the experiences were interrelated; sexual and physical abuse were related to early parental separation and sexual abuse was not related to witnessing violence. Levels of dissociative symptoms were significantly related to sexual and physical abuse but not to separation. Highest dissociative scores were associated with those sexually abused by family members, non-family members, and combined sexual and physical abuse; those who had mothers who drank heavily had the most significant levels o

Category: Psychology - E