Severity of Child Sexual Abuse and Revictimization: The Mediating Role of Coping and Trauma Symptoms

Abstract

Child sexual abuse (CSA) has consistently been associated with the use of avoidant coping; these coping methods have been associated with increased trauma symptoms, which have, in turn, been linked to increased risk for adult sexual revictimization. Given these previous findings, the purpose of the current study was to test a model that conceptualized the relationships among these variables. Specifically, CSA severity was conceptualized as leading to the use of avoidant coping, which was proposed to lead to maintenance of trauma symptoms, which would, in turn, impact severity of revictimization indirectly. This comprehensive model was tested in a cross-sectional study of a large, geographically diverse sample of college women. Participants were 99 female undergraduates classified as having experienced CSA who completed measures of abuse history, coping style, current levels of trauma symptoms, and adult sexual revictimization. Multivariate path analysis indicated that the data fit the hypothesized model for verbally coercive, but not physically aggressive, revictimization. Specifically, increased CSA severity was associated with the use of avoidant coping, which, in turn, predicted greater levels of trauma symptomatology and severity of sexual coercion in adulthood. Although cross-sectional in nature, findings from this study suggest that coping strategies and trauma symptoms may represent modifiable factors that place women at increased risk for verbally coercive sexual revictimization.

Violence Against Women Through the Lens of Objectification Theory

“…Due to this range of severity, researchers have developed methods of scoring that involve weighting items or categories according to severity. Consistent with previous approaches used by Arata and Lindman (2002) and Fortier et al (2009), the frequency of experiences for each of the five categories of the SES-SFV were weighted in order of severity and then summed for a total continuous score. More specifically, the total frequency of (a) unwanted sexual contact was multiplied by 1, (b) attempted coercion was multiplied by 2, (c) coercion was multiplied by 3, (d) attempted rape was multiplied by 4, and (e) rape was multiplied by 5.…”

“…As stated previously, the eight ABI-PF items used in this study assess psychological, physical, and sexual IPV, and these reflect experiences of increasing severity. Borrowing from the logic utilized by Arata and Lindman (2002) and Fortier et al (2009) for weighting SV items on the SES-SFV with non-physical experiences being weighted less than physical/sexual tactics, a method of scoring that involved weighting items or categories according to severity was applied to the ABI-PF items. More specifically, the items of the ABI-PF were categorized into psychological IPV, physical IPV, and sexual IPV (see J. C. Campbell, 1989, for similar IPV severity conceptualization).…”

“…The frequency of experiences for each of the three categories was weighted in order of severity similar to previous methods (e.g., Arata & Lindman, 2002;Fortier et al, 2009) and then summed for a total continuous score. Thus, the total frequency of (a) psychological IPV was multiplied by 1, (b) physical IPV was multiplied by 2, and (c) sexual IPV was multiplied by 3.…”

Brain and Mind Integration: Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors Experiencing Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment and Psychotherapy Concurrently

“…CSA defined as a sexual activity (ranging from fondling to sexual intercourse) with a minor, perpetrated by a person significantly older than the child (Hetzel and McCanne, 2005), is a unique severe traumatic event, as it denotes actual or threat of oral, anal or genital penetration of a child who cannot fully comprehend, is unable to give informed consent, and is not developmentally prepared (Fortier et al, 2009). The psychological trauma brought about by the experience of profound threat, such as CSA, leads to a longer-term syndrome that has been defined, validated, and termed PTSD in the clinical literature, and is often accompanied by devastating functional impairment.…”

The Impact of Child Sexual Abuse

“…If the age difference between perpetrator and victim was less than 5 years, the incident was only classified as abuse if the participant indicated that the contact was either not desired or was coercive (9). Consistent with other research, voluntary sexual activities with a peer were not considered sexual abuse (10). A positive answer to any of these nine screening questions was followed with questions asking more detailed information regarding the nature of the CSA incident that included: 1) type of physical contact, 2) age of the participant at the time of the abuse, 3) frequency of abuse, and 4) relationship of the perpetrator to the participant.…”