U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Early and Long-Term Effects of Child Sexual Abuse: An Update

NCJ Number
127896
Journal
Professional Psychology: Research and Practice Volume: 21 Issue: 5 Dated: special issue (October 1990) Pages: 325-330
Author(s)
D Finkelhor
Date Published
1990
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Research on the early and long-term effects of child sexual abuse done since 1986 is reviewed with emphasis on the several of the new directions which that research has taken.
Abstract
Most of the new research fits into the mold of previous work. The new studies consist of additional efforts to establish the connection between a history of sexual abuse and a variety of mental health symptoms and pathologies to demonstrate that sexual abuse does have a noxious impact both initially and in the long term. The new directions are broken into two categories: methodological and empirical refinements that have opened up issues that were recognized but previously neglected, and theoretical developments that have brought new issues to the forefront. The new directions discussed in depth are the impact of abuse on boys, the longitudinal perspective, victims without symptoms, and sexual abuse symptoms as posttraumatic stress. 38 references (Author abstract modified)