Childhood Sexual Abuse

. (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

Lu, W., Yanos, P. T., Silverstein, S. M., Mueser, K. T., Rosenberg, S. D., Gottlieb, J. D., Duva, S. M., Kularatne, T., Dove-Williams, S., Paterno, D., Hawthorne, D., and Giacobbe, G. (2013). Public Mental Health Clients with Severe Mental Illness and Probable Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Trauma Exposure and Correlates of Symptom Severity. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26,

In conclusion, about eighty percent of the women that had been diagnosed with PTSD have co morbid clinical disorders (35% had MDD, 13% pain disorder, 12% specific phobias, and finally 10% had Body Dysmorphic Disorder). Substance abuse was found to not be a frequent diagnosis. Women in the PTSD group score highly in depression symptom severity, LH, total, sexual and verbal violence. The population in the same group that had a lower education level had a high measurement in a male dominant background, abuse during childhood, abuse-related stress, total trauma-related stress, total number of life traumas, number of ER visits and amount of smoking.

An independent sample t-test was done to compare battered women with PTSD and those without PTSD. LH scores in PTSD-positive participants were significantly higher than those whom are non-PTSD. This suggest that there is a strong association between high levels of LH and PTSD in battered women. Furthermore, it was discovered that LH is strongly associated with early cultural influence, especially in male-dominated backgrounds. Women who are raised in cultures and educational background that promote female submissiveness and prejudice against women are more likely to develop PTSD and depression as a result of male violence. Depression is especially highly correlated with PTSD. Sexual violence was the strongest predictor of PTSD, whereas physical violence alone wasn’t significantly correlated. History of child abuse increases LH and therefore, increasingthe risk of depression and PTSD. In conclusion, this study suggests that LH in battered women is associated both with prolonged exposure to violence and other risk factors outside of the abusive relationship, and that the LH mediates the contribution of violence exposure to PTSD and MDD in this population.

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)

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.

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

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

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

Across studies it is shown that any form of CSA is strongly associated with major depression and PTSD (Chen et al., 2014). In one study conducted by Lev-Wiesel and Markus (2011), researchers administered the childhood sexual assaults scale to 225 female participants. This particular scale includes questions related to coercion and the type of sexual assault experienced. The results of this study showed that when individuals were coerced into intercourse, the levels of depression and post-traumatic stress symptomology were higher than when the intercourse was not coerced (Lev-Wiesel & Markus, 2011). Moreover, individuals whose abuse involved actual or attempted intercourse had more symptoms of PTSD than individuals who experienced other forms

The study was conducted using a primary research method where 100 women at a domestic violence shelter in the 26-county region of a Midwestern state was chosen randomly to participate in a descriptive survey (Renner & Markward, 2009). Renner & Markward (2009) found that the nature of mental health issues with women is extreme in abusive relationships especially those with a previous history of victimization. Furthermore, a significant association is found between suicidal ideation and intimate partner violence; however, it does not reflect causation (Renner & Markward, 2009). The study by Stark and Flitcraft (1996) as cited by Renner & Markward (2009) also found that women who attempted suicide found that these women suffered various forms of mental health disorders as a result of intimate partner violence (Renner & Markward, 2009). They also found that 51% of the medical records reviewed named intimate partner violence as the single precursor of suicide attempts (Renner & Markward, 2009). Furthermore, suicidal action often follows the thoughts of suicide from a victim of intimate partner violence (Renner & Markward, 2009). Suicidal ideation often accompanies self-destructive behaviour and attitude because this is usually the breaking point of the victims (Renner & Markward, 2009). Suicidal ideation in women who suffer intimate partner

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

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.