Shevlin, Mark, Murphy, Siobhan, Elklit, Ask, Murphy, Jamie and Hyland, Philip (2018) Typologies of child sexual abuse: An analysis of multiple abuse acts among a large sample of Danish treatment-seeking survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 10 (3). pp. 263-269. ISSN 1942-9681
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Abstract
Objective: The deleterious psychological effects of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) have been extensively
documented in the research literature. A limitation of this research, however, has been a reliance on
overly restrictive and limiting measurements of CSA. Researchers have most commonly referred to
discrete instances of rape and molestation; however, evidence suggests that sexual abuse in childhood can
include a wide array of acts and that individual survivors can endure many of these. Method: This study
employed latent class analysis to identify homogeneous groups of adult CSA survivors characterized by
similar typologies of sexual trauma within a large sample of Danish, treatment-seeking survivors of CSA
and incest (N = 454). In total, 18 separate contact and noncontact abuse acts were modeled. Furthermore,
the association between abuse-related variables (victim gender, the age at which the abuse started,
duration of abuse, and perpetrator of abuse) and the resultant CSA groups, or classes, was estimated.
Results: Four homogeneous CSA groups were identified: an intercourse group, a high-verbal/low-contact
group, a high-sexual-contact group, and a sexual-touch group. Some of the groups were distinguishable
from others in terms of the frequency of the abuse and the type of perpetrator identified. Conclusions:
The results show that “typologies” of CSA may provide a useful way to describe complex patterns of
abuse while also facilitating future investigations of CSA outcome and treatment need.
Item Type: | Article |
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Keywords: | childhood sexual abuse; latent class analysis; treatment-seeking sample; abuse-specific predictors; |
Academic Unit: | Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology |
Item ID: | 16153 |
Identification Number: | 10.1037/tra0000268 |
Depositing User: | Philip Hyland |
Date Deposited: | 20 Jun 2022 14:05 |
Journal or Publication Title: | Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy |
Publisher: | American Psychological Association |
Refereed: | Yes |
Related URLs: | |
URI: | https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/16153 |
Use Licence: | This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here |
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