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Symptomatology Associated With Childhood Sexual Victimization in a Nonclinical Adult Sample

NCJ Number
111229
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Dated: (1988) Pages: 51-59
Author(s)
J Briere; M Runtz
Date Published
1988
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study examined the incidence and long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse in a nonclinical sample of 278 female undergraduates.
Abstract
Approximately 15 percent of these women reported having sexual contact with a significantly older person before age 15. The typical victim was 9 years old at the time of first abuse, while the typical abuser was 26 years old. She was abused an average of 7.2 times over a variable period. Of victims, 46.4 percent experienced multiple incidents of abuse for up to a year. On a modified version of the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist, abused women reported higher levels of dissociation, somatization, anxiety, and depression than did their nonabused counterparts. Abuse-related symptomatology was positively associated with the age of the abuser, the total number of abusers, use of force during victimization, parental incest, completed intercourse, and extended duration of abuse. Overall, results suggests that sexual victimization is not only relatively common, but often traumatogenic as well. 3 tables, 45 notes, and 45 references. (Author abstract modified)