Sexually Abused Children's Perceptions of Sexual Abuse: An Exploratory Analysis and Comparison Across Ages

Abstract

ABSTRACT Personal interviews were conducted with 42 sexually abused children aged 4–16 years. A projective-type vignette describing a sexually abusive incident was read to the children followed by a standard list of questions designed to measure cognitive dimensions associated with the trauma of sexual abuse. Overall, the abused children's responses were consistent with perceptions of betrayal, sexualization, secrecy pressure, and coercion with few perceptions of victim blame. Comparisons were made between the perceptions of two developmentally distinct age groups (4–8 and 10–12 year olds) and results indicated that younger children exhibited greater perceptions of victim blame than the older children. Older children, however, attributed a more negative self-concept to the vignette victim and responded with greater perceptions of coercion. The significance of the findings is discussed in terms of prevention and treatment implications.