NCJ Number
232725
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 34 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2010 Pages: 752-761
Date Published
October 2010
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Data collected from an ongoing, prospective study of females with a substantiated history of childhood sexual abuse were used to assess whether an asymmetrical stress response, marked by activation in one system and a blunted response in another system, predicted higher levels of psychopathology over time.
Abstract
The study concludes that childhood sexual abuse may sensitize females to respond to moderate daily stressors in a manner that places them at higher risk for experiencing depressive symptoms and antisocial behaviors over time. Structural equation modeling indicated that a prior history of childhood sexual abuse predicted an asymmetrical physiological response to stress in late adolescence. In turn, this asymmetrical response predicted both higher levels of depression and antisocial behaviors in young adulthood. These findings suggest that the management of mild to moderate stress in the daily lives of females sexually maltreated as children may be a particularly useful point of intervention in order to protect against later psychopathology. The study involved 52 women with a substantiated history of childhood sexual abuse and a nonabused comparison group of 77 women. Childhood sexual abuse was determined at the initial visit. Vagal tone and cortisol were measured 7 years later to assess physiological response to a laboratory stressor across these systems. Depressive symptoms and antisocial behaviors were assessed 6 years after the completion of the laboratory stressor. 2 tables, 2 figures, and 59 references