Shevlin, Mark and Murphy, Siobhan and Elklit, Ask and 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
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:	https://doi.org/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
URI:	Publisher
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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