Child Sexual Abuse Imapct - 23yo Study

This is a new study about CSA cases by University of Southern California and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College

of Medicine.

It is an amazing summary of a rigorous, 23 year prospective, longitudinal study of sexually abused girls, 
followed up through some of them having their own children. 

ABSTRACT 

This is a report on the research design and findings of a 23-year longitudinal 
study of the impact of intrafamilial sexual abuse on female development.
 The conceptual framework integrated concepts of psychological 
adjustment with theory regarding how psychobiological factors might 
impact development. Participants included 6- to 16-year-old females with
 substantiated sexual abuse and a demographically similar comparison 
group. A cross-sequential design was used and six assessments have taken
 place, with participants at median age 11 at the first assessment and 
median age 25 at the sixth assessment. Mothers of participants took part
 in the early assessments and offspring took part at the sixth 
assessment. Results of many analyses, both within circumscribed 
developmental stages and across development, indicated that sexually 
abused females (on average) showed deleterious sequelae across a host of
 biopsychosocial domains including: earlier onsets of puberty, cognitive
 deficits, depression, dissociative symptoms, maladaptive sexual 
development, hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal attenuation, asymmetrical 
stress responses, high rates of obesity, more major illnesses and 
healthcare utilization, dropping out of high school, persistent 
posttraumatic stress disorder, self-mutilation, Diagnostic and 
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders diagnoses, physical and sexual 
revictimization, premature deliveries, teen motherhood, drug and alcohol
 abuse, and domestic violence. Offspring born to abused mothers were at 
increased risk for child maltreatment and overall maldevelopment. There 
was also a pattern of considerable within group variability. Based on 
this complex network of findings, implications for optimal treatments 
are elucidated. Translational aspects of extending observational 
research into clinical practice are discussed in terms that will likely 
have a sustained impact on several major public health initiatives.

Click Here to read more about the study 

Survey Finds Much Victimization of Children Goes Unreported

Percentage of cases revealed to authorities has risen, experts say, but many remain hidden

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_107309.html (*this news item will not be available after 04/04/2011)

By Randy Dotinga

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

TUESDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly 60 percent of 10-to-17-year-olds surveyed in a new study say they were victims of violence, abuse or crime in the past year. However, fewer than half said that authorities ever learned about what happened.
Researchers led by David Finkelhor of the University of New Hampshire surveyed youths 10 to 17 years old and parents of children up to 9 years old in 2008. More than 4,500 children were involved in the survey.

More than 58 percent of the kids said they'd been victimized in the past year, including reports of bullying. Of these, just shy of 46 percent said authorities knew of at least one of the incidents.

Authorities were more likely to know about incidents that were more serious, such as certain cases of sexual assault, kidnapping and gang or group assaults, the survey found.

"However, even emotional bullying (51.5 percent), neglect (47.8 percent) and theft (46.8 percent) were often known to authorities," the authors wrote. Kids were less likely to report assaults by peers and siblings, dating violence, sexual exposure (such as flashing) and statutory rape.

"Childhood/adolescent abuse is frequently described as a hidden problem, and victimization studies regularly have shown that much abuse goes undisclosed," the study authors wrote. "The hidden nature of childhood victimization has multiple sources. Clearly, children and adolescents are easily intimidated by offenders and fear retaliation."

The authors added that, in many cases, young people and their families choose to deal with incidents "informally," fearing the consequences of police and court involvement.

The study did find, though, that authorities are more aware of victimization than during an earlier survey, conducted in 1992.

"However, the study also shows that a considerable portion of childhood/adolescent exposure to victimization is still unknown to authorities," the authors wrote. "The study suggests that outreach needs to be particularly enhanced toward boys, Hispanics and higher-income groups. It also suggests that disclosure promotion should be directed toward episodes that involve family members and peer perpetrators."

The study is published in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, news release, Jan. 3, 2011

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