NCJ Number
222663
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 18 Issue: 12 Dated: December 2003 Pages: 1452-1471
Date Published
December 2003
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study examined the prevalence of multiple forms of revictimization and self-harm among females who experienced childhood sexual abuse, to better understand the nature and incidence of these phenomena, and to test theoretical models proposed to help explain each.
Abstract
Analyses show that, compared to non-abused participants, sexually abused participants were twice as likely to have been raped or sexually assaulted, almost 4 times as likely to have inflicted subsequent self-harm (in the form of suicide attempts or self-mutilation), reported significantly higher rates of physical revictimization (including domestic violence), and reported a greater number of significant subsequent lifetime traumas than comparison participants. This is the first study to provide empirical support for revictimization of childhood sexual abuse survivors in a primarily adolescent and early adult sample who have been repeatedly assessed for more than 7 years post-disclosure. Research over the past decade has documented a prospective link between rape and subsequent revictimization in short-term followup studies of adult victims. This study investigated the unique relationship of childhood sexual abuse to subsequent physical victimization, sexual revictimization, self-injurious behavior, and lifetime histories of significant traumas in females. Lifetime trauma histories were ascertained for females with confirmed histories of childhood sexual abuse and comparison females participating in a longitudinal prospective study. Tables and references