Factors associated with an increased impact of child sexual abuse

Sexual abuse in very young children: a psychological assessment in the Amsterdam Sexual Abuse Case study

“…Some proposed explanations are that asymptomatic children are more resilient or have coping styles that conceal their distress. Some researchers have posited that dysfunctional families and a general environment of maltreatment may be the main cause of negative CSA consequences (Bhandari, Winter, Messer, & Metcalfe, 2011; Conte & Schuerman, 1987). Our sample was comprised of children who had experienced exclusively extrafamilial CSA, and most were growing up in non-disruptive families with high socioeconomic status, intact family composition, and the likelihood of attachment problems comparable to that in Dutch community samples and lower than that reported for Dutch clinical samples: a meta-analysis by van IJzendoorn, Schuengel, and Bakermans-Kranenburg (1999) showed 15% avoidant attachment, 9% ambivalent attachment, and 15% disorganized attachment insecurity in the general population.…”

Factors influencing children to self-disclose sexual abuse

“…In addition to the dependency and vulnerability inherent to childhood, these barriers include cognitive and developmental factors (Bussey & Grimbeek, 1995;Saywitz, Nathanson, & Snyder, 1993), strategies employed by perpetrators to gain and maintain compliance and silence (Elliott et al, 1995;Conte et al, 1987;Kaufman et al, 1996), and internal and external factors that lead children to feel guilty and/or responsible for the abuse (Ney et al, 1986;Sauzier, 1989;Summit, 1983). Many child victims fear they will not be believed or helped (Gomes-Schwartz et al, 1990;Summit, 1983).…”

“…The methods employed by perpetrators to gain and maintain their victim's compliance and silence have been well documented in the research and clinical literature (Berliner & Conte, 1990;Budin & Johnson, 1989;Christiansen and Blake, 1990;Conte et al, 1987;Elliott et al, 1995;Furniss, 1991;Kaufman, Hilliker, & Daleiden, 1996;Lyon, 1996;Singer, Hussey, & Strom, 1992;Steward et al, 1993). Both victims (Berliner & Conte, 1990) and perpetrators (Conte et al, 1989) have identifi ed a gradual process whereby perpetrators employ successively inappropriate comments and increasingly inappropriate touches and behaviors so insidious that the abuse is often well under way before the child recognizes the situation as sexual or inappropriate.…”

“…Similarly, perpetrators in a specialized treatment program indicated that they generally targeted children who were quiet and withdrawn and/or appeared vulnerable because of their age or friendliness (Conte, Wolfe, & Smith, 1987). Perpetrators frequently seek out children who are particularly trusting (Conte et al, 1987) and work proactively to establish a trusting relationship with them before assaulting them (Budin & Johnson, 1989;Conte, Wolfe, & Smith, 1989;Elliott et al, 1995;Warner-Kearney, 1987). Not infrequently, this extends to establishing a trusting relationship with the victim's family as well (Elliott et al, 1995), affording the perpetrator greater access to and control of the child.…”

“…Research consistently indicates that most child victims delay disclosing for signifi cant periods of time and many had never disclosed at the time their abuse was discovered in some other manner (Gomes-Schwartz et al, 1990;Kelley, Brant, & Waterman, 1993;Sorenson & Snow, 1991). Children who experience abuse over longer periods of time are at greater risk of negative long-term outcome (Arata, 1998;Conte & Schuerman, 1987;Kendall-Tackett, Williams, & Finkelhor, 1993).…”