Childhood sexual abuse as a precursor to depression and self-destructive behavior in adulthood

✍ Scribed by Arne Cornelius Boudewyn; Joan Huser Liem

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 814 KB
• Volume: 8
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0894-9867
• DOI: 10.1002/jts.2490080307

✦ Synopsis

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) as a predictor of depression and self-destructive behaviors in adulthood was examined relative to other traumatic stressors in chiMhood and adulthood with special attention to sex differences. In a college sample of 173 men and 265 women, 16% of mule (n = 28) and 24% of female respondents (n = 63) reported having been sexually abused as children. CSA, ranging from unwanted kissing and fondling to unwanted sexual intercourse, predicted depression, chronic self-destructiveness, self-harm ideation, acts of self-ham, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts, for both men and women. The more frequent and severe the sexual abuse and the longer its duration, the more depression and self-destmctiveness reported in adulthood. Other stressors predicted these effects less consistently but their occurrence in combinatiqn with CSA contributed to the negativity of long-term outcomes. Study results afinn previous findings of a relationshop between CSA and depression and selfdestmctiveness in adult females and atend them to males.