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Child Abuse, Early Maladaptive Schemas, and Risky Sexual Behavior in College Women

NCJ Number
236013
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 20 Issue: 3 Dated: May - June 2011 Pages: 264-283
Author(s)
Melissa Roemmele; Terri L. Messman-Moore
Date Published
June 2011
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study examined risky sexual behavior of adults abused as children.
Abstract
Previous research suggests that individuals abused as children are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior during adulthood. The present study examined early maladaptive schemas as mediators of the child abuse-risky sexual behavior relationship among 653 college women. Self-report surveys assessed three forms of child abuse: Sexual, physical, and emotional, and assessed early maladaptive schemas within two domains: Disconnection/rejection and Other-Directedness. Disconnection/rejection schemas fully mediated the relation between child emotional abuse and number of sexual partners and partially mediated the relationship for sexual and physical abuse. However, when frequency of specific risky sexual acts (e.g., sex without contraception) was examined in the previous 6 months, only abandonment was a partial mediator. Implications for intervention and future research are discussed. (Published Abstract)