Childhood Sexual Abuse and Exposure to Peer Bullying Victimization

Abstract

Females exposed to child sexual abuse (CSA) are at an increased risk of experiencing further victimization in adolescence. Associations between CSA and several forms of cyber and in-person peer bullying victimization were assessed in a prospective, longitudinal study. Females exposed to substantiated CSA and a matched comparison group (N = 422) were followed over a two-year period. Bullying experiences were assessed in both survey and qualitative interviews. Qualitative data were coded and used to describe the types (e.g., cyber, physical, verbal), and foci (e.g., threats, physical appearance) of bullying victimization. Logistic regression was used to assess the odds that CSA was associated with subsequent bullying victimization, adjusted for demographics, social networking use, and prior bullying. CSA-exposed females were at an increased risk of multiple forms of bullying victimization with a persistent risk of bullying victimization over time. Specifically, they had 2.6 times higher odds of experiencing any bullying at follow-up, 2.9 times higher odds of experiencing cyberbullying at follow-up, and 2 times higher odds of experiencing combined cyber/in-person bullying at follow-up. CSA-exposed females were more likely than comparison females to experience bullying regarding their appearance/weight and dating relationships. Findings provide further insight into the unique circumstances of the cyberbullying and in-person bullying experienced by CSA-exposed females. Females exposed to child sexual abuse (CSA) are at an increased risk of experiencing bullying victimization, specifically cyberbullying and combined cyber/in-person bullying, as well as bullying about their appearance and dating relationships. These findings indicate that bullying prevention needs to include trauma-focused components to target these uniquely vulnerable females.

Childhood trauma, peer victimization, and non-suicidal self-injury among Chinese adolescents: A latent variable mediation analysis

“…Previous studies have also noted signi cant gender differences in the effects of childhood trauma on peer victimization. A prospective study reported that females who suffered child sexual abuse were at increased risk of peer victimization compared to males [74]. However, in the present study, no gender differences were found, which may be due to the unbalanced ratio of males to females in the current study sample.…”

Childhood trauma, peer victimization, and non-suicidal self-injury among Chinese adolescents: a latent variable mediation analysis

“…Previous studies have noted significant gender differences in the effects of childhood trauma on peer victimization. A prospective study reported that females who suffered child sexual abuse were at increased risk of peer victimization compared to males [ 98 ]. However, some studies also found that there are no gender differences in physical violence in childhood trauma, i.e., both boys and girls who are physically abused in childhood are at increased risk of peer intimidation and physical assault in adolescence [ 99 ].This could be explored further in future studies.…”

Understanding posttraumatic stress trajectories in adolescent females: A strength-based machine learning approach examining risk and protective factors including online behaviors

“…Studies have shown CSA survivors to be more likely to display high-risk internet behaviors, including choosing provocative self-representations online, and being exposed to sexual content online (Maas et al, 2019, Noll et al, 2009, 2013. Lastly, in line with CSA survivors being at an increased risk of subsequent revictimization, including peer victimization and bullying, they have also been shown to be at heightened risk for cyberbullying victimization online (Kennedy et al, 2021). This might reflect social and emotional developmental vulnerabilities, making CSA survivors more likely to be bullied for their actions and how they present themselves.…”