Childhood Sexual Abuse

As time progresses on, more reports of child sexual abuse (CSA) have been documented. According to Colangelo and Cooperman, CSA is defined as “the use of a child under 18 years of age as an object of gratification for adult sexual needs and desires.” Another definition of CSA is “sexual abuse [that] occurs whenever one person dominates and exploits another by means of sexual activity or suggestion.” (Hall, M., & Hall, J., 2011) it is difficult to

While negative effects manifest differently in females than males, the abuse is equally damaging to both genders. In my experience, most male CSA victims are riddled with feelings of guilt and shame. Most often their abuse was perpetrated by a trusted male during a critical time in development. Although the sexual contact was unsolicited and unwanted, their body had a physiological response to stimulation. This confusion often contributes to the victim’s belief that the abuse was somehow their fault, therefore “causing an unwillingness to admit to being victimized, and difficulty making negative attributions regarding an otherwise positive person” Ondersma et al.). Rind’s utilization of a college sample excludes the aforementioned male CSA victims. Since their maladaptive behaviors often lead to addiction, delinquency, and poor academic performance, males who suffered more maladaptive effects are very unlikely to be included in a college sample. Therefore, Rind’s findings can’t be accurately generalized to the majority

1)F.Scott Christopher and Tiffani S. Kisler(2012)surveyed mental health issues faced by women who experienced intimate partner violence.339 college women were surveyed and analysis showed that verbal aggression and minor and major physical violence overlapped.Experiences of sexual assault and minor physical violence also co-occurred.Women who experienced verbal and physical abuse but not sexual violence showed symptoms of hostility,anxiety,and depression and those who experienced sexual abuse displayed signs of depression.

This lack of social support, along with other variables, accounted for 63% of the variance in the symptoms of PTSD in their sample. Consistent with this finding, Schumm, Briggs-Phillips, & Hobfoll (2006) also examined the association between perceived social support and PTSD among women who had been victims of CSA. Results of this study showed that negative perceptions of their current social support increased the women’s levels of PTSD

By comparing the overall scores of each questionnaire given, the researchers confirmed their hypothesis. The results of this study showed that PTSD and major depressive disorder was high among the battered women. Additionally, in the scores of those women who with PTSD and depression, learned helplessness was also highly correlated. The PTSD group had higher scores on all of the conditions measured (depression, learned helplessness, severity of abuse and male dominated backgrounds)

. (Stewart, ) contends that feelings of vulnerability, unworthiness and powerless difficulty in distinguishing sexual from affectionate behaviours, mistrust, shame, guilt, stigma and mental health problems are psychological effects of CSA. A study conducted by (Wilson, 2010) indicates that adult survivors of CSA show a series of psychological and physical problems throughout their lives. (Hornor, 2010) argues that the majority of children who are sexually abused will be moderately to severely symptomatic at some point in their life. There is evidence to suggest that (Stevenson, 1999) children who are exposed to sexual abuse are at risk negative consequences as a result of the abuse itself, not solely as a consequence of other associated background

Furthermore, death is an extreme outcome of intimate partner violent in women (Guggisberg, 2006). Women who are victims of intimate partner violence are four times more likely to have suicidal ideation than non-abused women (Guggisberg, 2006). However, death goes both ways for women who have been victims of abusive relationships; they commit suicide or they kill their abusers (Guggisberg, 2006). Traditional attitudes towards intimate partner violence being a private matter and victim blaming still exists in our society (Renner & Markward, 2009). Therefore, some professionals are a bit hesitant to help victims affected by intimate partner violence. The damaging effect of fear and anxiety is a contribution of psychological factors from intimate partner violence Renner & Markward (2009) reported that mental health disorder correlates with an increase in suicidal rates (Renner & Markward, 2009). Furthermore, a strong risk factor of suicide in abusive relationships survivors is mental health issues (Renner & Markward, 2009). Ministerial Council for Suicide Prevention (2004) as cited by (Guggisberg, 2006) found that 57% of people who commit suicide were diagnosed with a form of psychiatric disorder in the months prior. Furthermore, more than half the people who committed suicide have made at least one other attempt go end their lives. Taff (2004) as cited

The study hypothesize that CSA survivors would have difficulty forming secure, intimate, nonabusive relationships and that CSA survivors are at risk for depression in low quality intimate relationships. Despite the overall quality of their intimate relationships, those that were severely abused reported feeling more anxious about their attachment to their partners (Aube, Judd & Whiffen, 1999). The partner that had a history of sexual abuse reported feeling unloved and abandoned by their partner but at the same time they felt like they could depend on them when they needed them. In adult attachment theory, this states that the survivor is experiencing an anxious attachment style. A limitation of this study was that they sampled women that were

CSA can leave survivors with both short and long term effects. This view is supported by Ferguson (1997), ‘as well as the immediate effects of such abuse seen in childhood, findings from research have reported how the impact of CSA can affect the lives of adult survivors.’

CSA can have short and long-term outcomes on the children. The outcomes do not come in certain order; it can happen differently to each child. Some of the outcomes that a child can have are post-traumatic stress disorder anxiety, eating disorders, drug abuse, sexuality-related distress, and depression (R.J. Zeglin et. Al., 2015). CSA can cause trauma on the child and as a consequence a child can have issues with their physical such as back pain, bladder disorders, chronic fatigue, chronic pelvic pain, obesity, but not limited to other physical conditions (C.H. Fox, A. Cornwall, 2013). Girls and boys can respond different to CSA. The primary difference between is that boys tend to have an external negative emotions and girls tend to have internal emotions. Boys are most likely to have issues in school, with drug abuse, and other risky behaviors, while, girls are most likely to have higher risk of depression and anxiety (R.J. Zenglin et. Al., 2015). On the study done by R.J. Zenglin et. Al. (2015), Does Having Children Moderate the Effect of Child Sexual Abuse on Depression, the results indicated that children who experience CSA history are more likely to have worse physical health, be unemployed, and to not have a college education than those children who have no history with CSA. In a study done by Briere and Runtz (1986), and also review by Peters and Range (1993), they found out the children with history of CSA have also, higher risk for suicidal behavior as a result of lower self-esteem and self-blame cause by CSA (C.M. Chelf & J.B. Ellis (2002). Many children feel powerless and unwanted by the society caused by the CSA. The results of CSA are indicators of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, that is why children who have experience CSA believe that they do not have reasons to

For example, the male batter can threat to inflict harm to the female victim and her family, causing her to be fearful and depressed. Another study used a structured interview to examine the levels of psychopathology on battered victims and found a high prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression (Gleason, 1993). Battered victims do not recognize the impact that domestic violence has on their psychological state. These victims attempt to deny the danger and avoid any connection to the abuse (Walker, 1991). For example, these

As stated by John Briere and Diana Elliott, those who have been sexually assaulted as a child have “a four-time greater lifetime risk for major depression than do individuals with no such abuse history” (57). Kristen Springer, et al. found that, “46% of those with a history of childhood sexual abuse, compared with 28% of those with no abuse, had experienced a major depressive episode” (866). Depression “has been found to be the most common long-term symptom among survivors. Mayo Staff Clinic describes depression as, “a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest.” Melissa and Joshua Hall state that depression from childhood sexual assault results in, “survivors having difficulty in externalizing the abuse, thus thinking negatively about themselves” (2). It is said that symptoms of those abused may include,” feeling down much of the time, having suicidal ideation, having disturbed sleeping patterns, and having disturbed eating patterns” (Hall, 2). Although the assault may have occurred as much as 15 years ago or so, the misery from the event can continue to overpower one's happiness. Survivors tend to avoid others and feel almost useless, as if they have nothing to offer. Recurring misery and negative thoughts can take over the lives of adults and result in different levels of depression. Although not all of the

However, patients with major depression comorbid with PTSD and aggression had higher rates of suicidal behaviour than patients with major depression alone (Oquendo et al.), leading the reader to believe that aggression was the underlying factor of suicide. The results, nonetheless, were not statistically significant (Oquendo et al.). Aggression, on the other hand, was not a mediating factor for suicidal behaviour with patients that had independent diagnoses of PTSD and cluster B personality disorders (Oquendo et al.). Also important to note, the study pointed out that women were more likely to be diagnosed with major depression and PTSD than men, and that women who were diagnosed with PTSD had a higher probability of being abused.

report CSA. Men who were sexually abused as children had a 3-fold increased risk of

Adding to the list of drugs, depression, and withdrawal is trauma. Both genders, male and female, suffer from this, but trauma is seen more dominantly in the female population. Studies have shown that women sexually abused as children have rates of mental health impairment almost twice as high as women not abused (Finkelhor 79). As said by Elizabeth Connelly, these health impairments include post-traumatic stress disorder, dissociative identity disorder, mood disorders, antisocial personality disorder, and anxiety disorder (39). As a result, sexual abuse may begin as a physical act, but ultimately affects a child mentally.