The development of a sexual abuse severity score: Characteristics of childhood sexual abuse associated with trauma symptomatology, somatization, and alcohol abuse

Therese Zink, Lisa Klesges, Susanna Stevens, Paul Decker

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

42 Scopus citations

Abstract

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is common and is associated with both mental and physical health problems in adulthood. Using data from an age- and sex-stratified population survey of 600 Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents, a Sexual Abuse Severity Score was developed. The abuse characteristics of 156 CSA respondents were associated with self-reported trauma, somatization, and alcohol use. Characteristics included age of first sexual abuse, more than one perpetrator, degree of coercion, severity of abuse (i.e., attempted intercourse is more severe than fondling), and the number of occurrences. This is one of the few reports to develop a risk summary that quantifies the severity of CSA.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)537-546
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Interpersonal Violence
Volume24
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2009

Keywords

  • Adolescent victims
  • Child abuse
  • Hx of child abuse
  • Male victims
  • PTSD
  • Sexual abuse
  • Sexual assault
  • Situational factors

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