Dynamics of Family and Intimate Partner Violence by Irene Hanson Frieze & Christina E. Newhill & Rachel Fusco

Author:Irene Hanson Frieze & Christina E. Newhill & Rachel Fusco
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030426088
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

6.7.2 Long-Term Effects of CSA Seen in Adults

A number of studies have demonstrated that the effects of CSA seen in children continue into adulthood and manifest themselves in terms of psychopathology, as well as in terms of physical health and other symptoms. Perez-Fuentes et al. (2013) surveyed more than 34,000 adults aged 18 or older in a national U.S. sample. Those reporting earlier experiences of CSA were found to be higher in a number of psychiatric diagnoses, as well as in suicide attempts. It was also noted that most had other forms of child maltreatment as well as CSA. In another study drawing on health data from an HMO, Felitti et al. (2019) asked HMO patients to respond to a mailed survey about adverse childhood experiences. There was a response rate of 71%, yielding a final usable sample of 8056 adults. HMO health data indicated that reports of psychological, physical and sexual abuse in childhood as well as evidence of living in a dysfunctional household with IPV or substance abuse were so highly related that it was not feasible to examine independent effects of these experiences. Overall, the more of these experiences one had, the more likely it was that they were alcoholic, used illicit drugs, and had a sexually transmitted disease. In addition, adverse childhood experiences were related to heart disease, cancer, strokes, chronic bronchitis and diabetes. The authors conclude by pointing out how these effects relate to a higher death rate for those growing up in abusive households and argue for more effective interventions for such families.

Other adult effects of earlier experiences of CSA can be seen in specific sexual behaviors. Some male CSA survivors do commit sexual offenses as adults, although the large majority do not. Examining the specific forms of sexual offenses in a sample of 498 male adolescents judged to have committed sexual offenses, Morais, Alexander, Fix, and Burkhart (2018) compared those with and without a prior history of CSA. Those who had experienced CSA were more likely to offend against another male than those without CSA experiences (42% versus 25%). The CSA survivors also offended against a younger victim (age 8.2 versus 9.4) but this effect was not statistically significant. The CSA group also had higher scores on depression and PTSD.

Other research has indicated that adult CSA survivors may experience difficulty in their romantic and sexual relationships (Gauthier et al., 2018). Sexual functioning may be lowered, along with sexual satisfaction. Gauthier and his colleagues hypothesized that one reason for these sexual difficulties might relate to non-disclosure of their childhood sexual abuse to a martial partner. This was investigated in a sample of community volunteers who had been in a relationship at least 6 months and who had reported CSA experiences in the larger study of negative childhood experiences. The final sample of 70 adults was 86% women with an average duration of 5 years within their relationships who had disclosed their CSA history to their partner. Analyses indicated that those reporting that the partner responded positively to the disclosure rated their sexual and relationship satisfaction higher.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.