The Level of Personality Organization and Revictimization in Lives of Child Sexual Abuse Survivors

Abstract

Previous research has documented that women who were sexually abused in childhood are also often victims of sexual abuse in adulthood. In the current study, we investigated the relationship between the phenomenon of sexual revictimization and personality organization (PO) conceptualized in accordance with the Otto Kernberg's theory. The central hypothesis was that women with borderline personality organization (BPO) and neurotic personality organization (NPO) differ in terms of the occurrence of revictimization and its features. We predicted that women with BPO would experience revictimization more often, and that it would be characterized by features determining its higher severity than in women with NPO. In our study, 119 Polish adult women completed measures of PO and experiences of sexual violence in childhood and adulthood. The results supported the predicted relationships. After controlling for participants' age, we showed that women with a close to borderline level of personality organization (cBPO) are at the greater risk of experiencing revictimization than those with NPO, in particular the revictimization involving penetration and by the previously known offender. Moreover, specific structural features related to BPO were found to have particular associations: Fear of Fusion (FF) was associated with the experience of revictimization; Identity Diffusion (ID), Primitive Defense Mechanism (PDM), FF, and Impaired Reality Testing (IRT) with penetration during revictimization; and PDM and IRT with revictimization by the previously known offender. Our findings suggest the importance of taking into account PO in estimating the risk of revictimization, as well as in therapy programs aimed at reducing this risk.

Personality Disorders in Adult Female Child Sexual Abuse Survivors: Dimensions of Personality Pathology and Characteristics of Abuse

“…The present study was conducted in general population of Polish women above 23 years of age at the time of the study, who were characterized by NPO or BPO, and provided information on their history of sexual abuse. The lower age limit is based on the requirements of the main project, which explored the issue of revictimization in lives of CSASs (for details, see Izdebska, 2016;Izdebska & Beisert, 2018). The individuals with significantly increased probability of PPO were identified and excluded on the basis of their psychiatric treatment history, that is, reported psychiatric hospitalization of longer than 6 months.…”

“…The individuals with significantly increased probability of PPO were identified and excluded on the basis of their psychiatric treatment history, that is, reported psychiatric hospitalization of longer than 6 months. As, in Poland, most patients presenting relatively short-lasting episodes of decompensation are usually hospitalized for no longer than 10 weeks, it was assumed that a history of more than 6 months of treatment would suggest more chronic and severe disturbances, including those with a psychotic background (Izdebska & Beisert, 2018). In the main project, the data for the preliminary study were collected from two sources, that is, using Internet and by direct contact.…”

“…Experience of CSA was measured by means of Questionnaire of the Experiences of Sexually Abused Child (QESAC; Beisert, 2012;Izdebska & Beisert, 2018). QESAC was designed for assessing whether the person experienced sexual abuse in childhood (till the age of 11-12) by an adult (a person over 18 years of age), and-if tested positive-for evaluation of the characteristics of the abuse.…”

“…For each item, women were asked to answer whether such experience occurred in their lives. If confirmed, they would mark its relevant characteristics in terms of frequency and number of offenders: (a) one incident, (b) a few (2-4) incidents by the same offender, (c) a few (2-4) incidents by different offenders, (d) many incidents by the same offender, or (e) many incidents by different offenders, as well as the type of relationship with the offender: (a) a close relative, (b) a distant relative or an acquaintance, or (c) an unknown offender (Izdebska & Beisert, 2018).…”

“…For the 8-point threshold, similar estimates were not performed by Leichsenring (1999). The same threshold was, however, set also for the other analyses conducted in the data set of the main project resulting in significant correlations with other constructs, for example, revictimization and its characteristics, emotional processing, and chosen temperamental features (Izdebska, 2016;Izdebska & Beisert, 2018). Even though these results supported the validity of the accepted approach, it could not be assumed that only BPO individuals were included in the interval, just that the level of the structural features of BPO was relatively high in this group.…”