Lesbians Surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse

Summary. This qualitative, feminist study is focused on lesbians’ experiences growing up in multiproblem families, surviving aftereffects 8of trauma, and struggling with alcohol problems. A multi-racial sample of 20 lesbians narrated life stories in a series of three in-depth interviews. The research report opens with one woman’s narrative about surviving childhood sexual abuse and continues with explication of how differences and similarities within and between accounts pivot on the issues of sexual orientation, gender, and race. Results suggest that early in their lives, overwhelming violence and intrusive expectations were imposed, negating a clarity of experience about their authenticity. No participant expressed a belief that her sexual orientation was a result of childhood sexual abuse. The societal presumption of sexual abuse as an etiological factor in determining lesbian sexual orientation, nevertheless, was pivotal for these survivors because they had to constantly protect themselves from others’ judgements about whether they were “real lesbians.” They described a multi-faceted, ingenious strategy, gender-blurring, that helped them gamer a place of some value in the family and stave off some of the violence, but this protective stance made them question whether they were “real women.” Women also indicated that they grew up in families empty of cultural affiliation. Instead of knowledge and pride about connection with community, they experienced a gaping void about racial identification, ethnicity, parentage, and personal history. All in all, they survived a series of social identity exclusions. Conclusions call into question the usefulness and adequacy of theories about static psychological and social identities and suggest the importance of specific, localized analyses that explore narrative selves.

Research has shown that the experience of Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) can increase the rates of physical and emotional sequela, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and physical pain. However, little is known about the healing journeys for those women who, after surviving CSA, also experience unwanted sexual experiences (USE) as a young adult. The goal of this mixed method study is to compare identity, distress, and positive health outcomes for survivors of CSA and USE with those of women who have survived USE alone. First, 206 women completed a survey that evaluated mental health distress, trauma centrality, and health indicators, and these women were invited to take part in an additional interview. A subsample of 24 women agreed to be interviewed with a narrative interview that examined trauma recovery from a holistic perspective. Thematic analysis of the interview data revealed contextual and internal barriers and facilitators of healing. Eight qualitative dimensions were derived from code frequencies of the emerging 50 qualitative codes, including Normalization, Denial, Negative Impact, Positive Coping, Rumination, Identity Healing, Hope, and Fulfillment Healing, and Engagement Healing. We then used t-tests to compare the mean code frequencies of these code complexes for survivors of CSA/USE and USE alone, and the significant findings revealed hypotheses to be tested in the larger quantitative sample. H1: Survivors of CSA will have less denial than USE alone; H2: Survivors of CSA will have higher Negative Impact scores than USE alone, and H3: Survivors of CSA will have more Hope and Fulfillment than USE alone. H1 was supported; survivors of both CSA and USE had a significantly higher mean Centrality Scores than Survivors of USE alone. H2 was supported, and all negative impact scores were significantly higher for the survivors of both CSA and USE than survivors of USE alone. H3 was partially supported. Survivors of both CSA and USE had significantly higher mean Post-Traumatic growth scores. However, survivors of USE alone had significantly higher means for Sense of Coherence and Self-Compassion scores. Implications for practice are discussed.

BackgroundPrevious studies have frequently reported a high prevalence of co-occurring anxiety and depression among people who experienced stressful events in childhood. However, few have noted the symptomatic relationship of this comorbidity among childhood sexual abuse (CSA) survivors. Therefore, this study’s objectives were as follows: (1) to examine the relationship across symptoms between anxiety and depression among CSA survivors; (2) to compare differences between male and female network structures among CSA survivors.MethodsA total of 63 Universities and Colleges in Jilin Province, China, covered 96,218 participants in this study, a sub-set data of which met the criteria of CSA was analyzed with the network analysis. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), measured CSA. Anxiety was measured by the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and depression was measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The sex difference between anxiety and depression among CSA survivors was compared.Results3,479 college students reported the experience of CSA (CTQ-SF total scores ≥ 8), with a prevalence of 3.62% (95% CI: 3.50–3.73%). Among CSA survivors, control worry, sad mood, and energy were central and bridge symptoms of the anxiety and depression network. Meanwhile, male CSA survivors appeared to have a stronger correlation between guilt and suicide, but female CSA survivors seemed to have a stronger correlation between control worry and suicide. Moreover, the edge of control worry-relax-afraid was stronger in the male network, while the edge of restless-relax was stronger in the female network.ConclusionControl worry, sad mood, and energy are crucial to offer targeted treatment and to relieve anxiety and depression symptoms for CSA survivors. Guilt needs more attention for male CSA survivors, while control worry remains more important for female CSA survivors to reduce suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.

ABSTRACTThe present study examined the possibility of different groups of child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors based on their different patterns of attachment and sexual problems. A sample of 324 CSA survivors and 484 participants who did not report any child maltreatment experiences completed online questionnaires. A cluster analysis on attachment and sexual outcomes revealed that CSA survivors formed two distinct profiles. The first profile included CSA survivors with elevated attachment anxiety and low to moderate scores on attachment avoidance, sexual compulsion, and sexual avoidance. The second profile comprised CSA survivors with high scores on attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, sexual compulsion, and sexual avoidance. These groups were then compared on CSA severity, gender differences, and other child maltreatment experiences. As compared to CSA survivors of the first profile, survivors from the second profile reported more intrusive and extrafamilial CSA, higher rates of psychological maltreatment and witnessed parental violence, and experienced more personal and couple distress. These results suggest that CSA survivors form a heterogeneous population and that sexual abuse is differentially associated with the complex unfolding of the attachment and sexual systems within two distinct subgroups.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH—PSYCHOLOGY: Sexual Function and Satisfaction in Adults Based on the Definition of Child Sexual Abuse

In this article, the authors review 33 empirical studies investigating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). In many of these studies, researchers also examined the impact of the co-occurring trauma of childhood physical abuse (CPA) in regard to PTSD symptoms. Methodological issues addressed in the review include definition and measurement of both CSA and CPA, assessment of PTSD, and additional aspects of experimental design. In this review, the authors explore the importance of the empirical investigation of the relationship between the level of trauma exposure (e.g., seventy and duration of trauma), and the level of PTSD symptoms. Suggestions for future research are proposed. Since a given survivor may often experience additional types of traumatic events across his or her lifetime, the utility of adopting a multiple-trauma perspective in understanding the impact of stressful life events across the lifespan is explored.

<p>This report presents the findings of a gap analysis of specialized services for victims and survivors of online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) in Canada. The analysis took place between March and July 2019 and was conducted to identify existing specialized support services for victims of CSEA, their families, and adult survivors of CSEA, as well as gaps in the availability of such services, any promising practices in Canada or elsewhere, and challenges to providing specialized supports for these victims and their families.</p> <p>Very few support services and treatment practices are specifically related to online CSEA in Canada. Overall, the most promising practices currently offered in Canada are those that address child victims (children and youth up to the age of 18 years) of crime more generally, especially the services provided by the Child and Youth Advocacy Centre network that is expanding across the country, as well as those provided by the longstanding network of service providers that responds to victims of sexual assault. These networks have great potential to provide specialized supports for online CSEA victims and their families. However, they currently lack expertise in online CSEA, and need evidence-based guidance on how to best support these victims; methods demonstrated to be effective for sexual crime victims in general might not be effective or may even be harmful to victims of online crimes.</p> <p>What is needed is investment in creating the evidence base – that is, data evaluating and verifying the appropriateness and effectiveness of specific support services and approaches to treatment for online CSEA – that would then inform best practices. These best practices could then be conveyed in training for service providers, and integrated into supervision and mentorship structures within organizations. Many of the individuals interviewed for this report are experts in the field of child sexual abuse. Other participants are well versed in providing referrals for clients needing specialized supports for child victims of sexual abuse. However, they did not believe that they had expertise specific to working with victims of online CSEA, and generally did not know of specialized services to which they could refer victims. The extensive and well-established networks of experts in the fields of sexual abuse and child sexual abuse should be mobilized to participate in, and contribute to, research in this area in order to develop evidence-based effective responses for victims of online CSEA.</p>

<p>This report presents the findings of a gap analysis of specialized services for victims and survivors of online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) in Canada. The analysis took place between March and July 2019 and was conducted to identify existing specialized support services for victims of CSEA, their families, and adult survivors of CSEA, as well as gaps in the availability of such services, any promising practices in Canada or elsewhere, and challenges to providing specialized supports for these victims and their families.</p> <p>Very few support services and treatment practices are specifically related to online CSEA in Canada. Overall, the most promising practices currently offered in Canada are those that address child victims (children and youth up to the age of 18 years) of crime more generally, especially the services provided by the Child and Youth Advocacy Centre network that is expanding across the country, as well as those provided by the longstanding network of service providers that responds to victims of sexual assault. These networks have great potential to provide specialized supports for online CSEA victims and their families. However, they currently lack expertise in online CSEA, and need evidence-based guidance on how to best support these victims; methods demonstrated to be effective for sexual crime victims in general might not be effective or may even be harmful to victims of online crimes.</p> <p>What is needed is investment in creating the evidence base – that is, data evaluating and verifying the appropriateness and effectiveness of specific support services and approaches to treatment for online CSEA – that would then inform best practices. These best practices could then be conveyed in training for service providers, and integrated into supervision and mentorship structures within organizations. Many of the individuals interviewed for this report are experts in the field of child sexual abuse. Other participants are well versed in providing referrals for clients needing specialized supports for child victims of sexual abuse. However, they did not believe that they had expertise specific to working with victims of online CSEA, and generally did not know of specialized services to which they could refer victims. The extensive and well-established networks of experts in the fields of sexual abuse and child sexual abuse should be mobilized to participate in, and contribute to, research in this area in order to develop evidence-based effective responses for victims of online CSEA.</p>

The relationship between history of childhood sexual abuse and psychopathology in adult life is well established. However, understanding of the mechanisms by which abuse exerts its effects is limited. To our knowledge, this is the first study which investigates the relationship between a wide range of sexual abuse characteristics (i.e. age at onset, frequency of assaults, number of perpetrators and their relationship to the victim) and the severity of psychopathological disorders in a large sample of adult child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors who attended a specialist Psychotherapy Service for CSA survivors. CSA survivors in our study experienced severe sexual assault(s) in their early years and presented with severe pathology which could suggest a strong causal link. However, none of the examined trauma characteristics significantly predicted severity of psychopathology. This may suggest that for severely disordered, treatment-seeking CSA survivors post-abuse psychopathology could be caused by other factors. The study adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that CSA effects may be dependent on factors which are not necessarily related to the nature of sexual abuse. The study findings will help improve clinicians' insight into the determinants of psychopathology.

Purpose and Potential benefits: Research, to our knowledge, has not examined the effect of demographic variables on PTSD symptoms among adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). This study explores the relationship between demographic variables and scores of CSA survivors on the Impact of Scale (IES). Participants were 257 women CSA survivors entering outpatient treatment at a university-based mental health center. All participants reported a CSA history and presented with psychological difficulties associated with CSA. The demographic variables investigated were relationship status, religious affiliation, ethnicity, educational level, spousal educational level income, and sexual orientation. Significance tests were used to examine each variable and scores on the Total IES and Avoidance and Intrusion Subscales. Total IES and Intrusion scores differed for sexual orientation and ethnicity in accord with conventional standards of significance (alpha less than .05). Self-reported asexuals indicated fewer intrusive and total PTSD symptoms than heterosexuals, lesbians, and bisexuals. Likewise, Hispanics reported less intrusive PTSD symptoms than Non-Hispanic Caucasians. Our findings invite further exploration of the relationship between ethnicity and sexual orientation and the long-term effects of CSA. A question for empirical investigation is whether asexuality shields against the triggering of CSA memories by a sexual relationship. Another possible area of inquiry is whether particular characteristics of Hispanic culture as a whole serve to moderate the detrimental effects of CSA.

Attitudes among judiciary and junior clerks toward the survivors of childhood sexual abuse

This integrative review aimed to synthesize both qualitative and quantitative research on the (re)experiencing of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms during the perinatal period for childhood sexual abuse (CSA) survivors. Whittemore and Knafl's framework, which includes problem identification, literature review, data evaluation, data analysis, and results dissemination, was used. A search in four databases (i.e., PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Scopus, and ProQuest Dissertations and Thesis Global) yielded an initial sample of 3420 articles. After screening and deduplication, 16 articles met our inclusion criteria (i.e., history of CSA, minimum 8 weeks pregnant, reported quantitative statistics or qualitative findings, discussed PTSD symptoms) and were retained in the final sample. CSA survivors (re)experienced PTSD symptoms as a result of (1) aspects of their medical care (vaginal examinations, male medical providers, lack of control, and restraint), (2) physical sensations during pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding, and (3) sex of the child (worries over child becoming an abuser/abused, male genitalia). CSA survivor's PTSD symptoms of intrusion, dissociation, avoidance, and hyperarousal were significantly greater throughout the perinatal period compared with individuals without CSA or with other traumas. CSA survivors are at increased risk of (re)experiencing PTSD symptoms throughout the perinatal period, which may be due to several internal and external triggers. Further research is needed to understand external triggers outside of medical care, and how the unique context of pregnancy may differ from other life contexts for survivors of CSA. Findings point to the relevance of adopting trauma-informed practices with CSA survivors during their perinatal period.

ABSTRACTThis paper presents the findings of a study on how oral health-related problems affect the lives of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) survivors seen from the viewpoint of 12 women and 4 men sexually abused as children. Study methods followed the principles of grounded theory approaches. During analysis, the core concept of invading deeply into self and everyday life was constructed on the basis of seven categories: causing serious oral health symptoms, triggering trauma-reactions, increasing emotional distress, shaping the understanding of self, intruding daily life practices, restraining social interactions, and generating financial difficulties. These findings help us to understand how deeply oral health-related problems invade the understanding of self and the everyday lives of CSA survivors, and how these problems interact with their existing considerable problems related to the aftermath of CSA. Attention to these problems may help CSA survivors to understand more about themselves as well as helping professionals, family members and friends to understand the challenges CSA survivors face in everyday life. Increased understanding may also assist professionals to focus on how CSA survivors can be helped in handling challenges associated with dental treatment, daily self-care and other problems related to oral health.

Objectives Traumatized sexuality encapsulates the profound ways in which trauma symptoms manifest in the sexual lives of child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors, aligning with DSM-5 criteria. This study explores six key factors: dissociation (disconnection from physical/emotional experience), intrusiveness (trauma memories interfering with intimacy), shame/guilt (internalized negative beliefs manifesting during sex), pleasing behaviors (prioritizing a partner’s needs based on early abuse patterns), interpersonal distress (projecting past trauma onto current relationships), and hypervigilance (heightened threat sensitivity in intimate situations). These factors significantly impact survivors’ sexual wellbeing and relationships. Methods This study utilized the Sexual-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms (PT-SEX) scale to measure traumatized sexuality in women survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA). Two independent samples were recruited: Sample 1 consisted of 330 women with documented histories of CSA, while Sample 2 included 393 CSA survivors, aiming to validate findings and assess further moderating effects. Results In Study 1, involving 330 CSA survivors, findings showed significantly elevated levels of traumatized sexuality relative to non-abuse controls. Traumatized sexuality distinctly influenced sexual self-esteem, motivation, relationship satisfaction, compulsive sexual behavior, and mental health outcomes. Study 2, involving 393 survivors, examined how traumatized sexuality moderates the relationship between CSA and sexual difficulties. Severe dissociation was associated with increased sexual dysfunction and compulsive behavior, while intrusiveness and pleasing behaviors were linked to higher compulsive sexual tendencies. Elevated guilt/shame and hypervigilance correlated with greater sexual dysfunction. Moderation analyses revealed that intrusiveness and pleasing behaviors during sex moderated the association between CSA and sexual dysfunction, while guilt/shame and intrusiveness moderated the link to compulsive behavior. Additionally, intrusiveness, pleasing, and hypervigilance moderated CSA’s association with problematic pornography use. Conclusions The study demonstrates the substantial effects of traumatized sexuality on CSA survivors, highlighting the complexity of trauma’s effects on sexual health. These insights emphasize the need for specialized research and interventions addressing the distinct challenges faced by CSA survivors. Recognizing the complex interplay between trauma and sexuality is essential for developing targeted, supportive approaches to aid survivors in healing. Conflicts of Interest None.

Sexual abuse during childhood is surprisingly common, with estimates in the general population ranging from 15% to 38% (1).It is associated with significant psychiatric sequelae, including the development of major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).These common consequences of exposure to trauma can emerge in the aftermath of natural disasters as well as those in which humans have a hand (2).Some responses, such as suicidal behavior, are not only life-threatening but have multigenerational repercussions, as individuals who report childhood sexual abuse are at risk not only for suicidal behavior themselves but also for transmitting suicidal behavior and mood disorders to their offspring (3).The timing (4) and severity of childhood sexual abuse are also relevant to its consequences (5).Earlier age at onset of childhood sexual abuse is associated with more intent during suicide attempts (6) as well as greater severity of PTSD (7) and depressive symptoms (8).Similarly, the severity of sexual abuse during development is reportedly related to earlier-onset suicidal behavior (6), greater depression severity (9), and more pronounced symptoms among patients with borderline personality disorder (5).Interestingly, other forms of early life stress, such as childhood emotional abuse and neglect, have been found to be stronger predictors of subsequent depression in adulthood than childhood sexual or physical abuse (10).