The Relationship Between Perceptions of Response to Disclosure of Childhood Sexual Abuse and Later Outcomes

Abstract

This study assessed whether perceptions of others' reactions to disclosure are related to psychological and physical outcomes among individuals with a history of child sexual abuse. Eighty-six female undergraduates completed a series of questionnaires assessing child sexual abuse, nonsexual trauma, depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, somatic symptoms, disclosure, and social reactions to disclosure. Those who reported child sexual abuse endorsed higher levels of psychological and physical symptoms than those who reported a nonsexual traumatic event. Child sexual abuse survivors who reported more hurtful responses to disclosure had higher levels of posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and physical symptoms than nonsexual trauma survivors. These findings suggest that many survivors of CSA may need psychological services, and an important focus of treatment may be assessing and strengthening social support.

“I Still Feel Like I Am Not Normal”: A Review of the Role of Stigma and Stigmatization Among Female Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, Sexual Assault, and Intimate Partner Violence

“…Using a diverse sample of female college students including CSA survivors and those reporting nonvictimization negative life events prior to age 18, Palo and Gilbert (2015) found that CSA survivors had higher rates of depression, PTSD, and somatic complaints; CSA survivors who reported negative reactions in response to disclosure had higher anxiety, PTSD, and somatic symptoms compared to participants who disclosed negative life events. In a community-based study with African American and Latina CSA survivors, although a link between victim-blaming reactions and depression was not supported, self-blame in interaction with disclosure resulted in higher levels of depression among African American participants (Sciolla et al, 2011).…”

The lasting consequences of childhood sexual abuse on human capital and economic well‐being

“…In the United States, 16.1% of women and 6.2% of men reported a history of childhood sexual abuse in the 2009–17 surveys of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (Giano et al., 2020). 1 The consequences of childhood sexual abuse on immediate trauma are well understood, and associations with worse mental health status persist in adulthood (Fletcher, 2009; Hoertel et al., 2015; Natalie Sachs‐Ericsson et al., 2010; Palo & Gilbert, 2015). We know much less about the durable impacts of childhood sexual abuse beyond mental health, which may extend into adulthood.…”

“…Due to fear, shame, and self‐blame, individuals who experience childhood sexual abuse commonly do not disclose to anyone around the time of occurrence (Easton, 2013; Hunter, 2015; O'Leary & Barber, 2008; Xiao & Smith‐Prince, 2015), thus are less likely to receive support. Lack of support can foster persistence of mental health symptoms (Fletcher, 2009; Hoertel et al., 2015; Palo & Gilbert, 2015; Sachs‐Ericsson et al., 2010), which could result in accumulated impacts on human capital.…”

Psychometrics of a Brief Trauma Symptom Screen for Youth in Residential Care

“…With further development, the BTSSY could be a useful screening tool to aid in early detection of trauma‐related symptoms for youth who are being admitted to residential programs. Experiencing a traumatic event does not mean that a child will develop PTSD (Alisic et al., ), but the response a child gets from others when they share this information can have an impact on their subsequent well‐being (Palo & Gilbert, ). The availability of brief, free, reliable, and valid trauma screening instruments could better equip clinicians to maximize the therapeutic response they provide youth on the very first day of residential care.…”