Family characteristics and long-term consequences associated with sexual abuse.
As opposed to father-daughter incest, little attention has been paid to the long-term consequences and family dynamics associated with child sexual abuse of females perpetrated by extended family members or extrafamilial contacts. Female undergraduates (n = 586) completed questionnaires on family history, sexual experiences, and current functioning. Results confirmed other research suggesting that father-daughter incest is associated with a traditional patriarchal family structure. However, sexual abuse overall, regardless of perpetrator, was associated with certain uniform family characteristics. Moreover, sexual abuse had certain long-term consequences, regardless of perpetrator. These results suggest the importance of attention to family characteristics in all cases of child sexual abuse.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007179:Incest; D008875:Middle Aged; D012649:Self Concept; D012725:Sexual Behavior