The Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Psychological Distress Among Women in New Zealand

Abstract Background Intersectional stigma is based upon co-occurring and intersecting identities or conditions and occurs at multiple levels of influence. Intersectional stigma has been repeatedly associated with poor health behaviors and outcomes. The effect of intersectional stigma among older adults are particularly challenging due to issues related to ageism, loss of social support, and comorbidities. We examined the impact of multiple stigmas on older adults living with HIV who are victims of childhood sexual abuse. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposefully selected heterogeneous sample of 24 adults living with HIV who are 50 years and older in South Carolina. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded using thematic analysis. Results Participants shared experiences and perceptions of stigma and discrimination most commonly related to their HIV status and sexuality at the interpersonal/familial and community levels. Four themes emerged to explain the impact of intersectional stigma: depression, lack of HIV disclosure, limited support, and reduced intimacy. Conclusion The complexity of multiple stigmas profoundly shapes life experiences, opportunities, and mental health of older adults living with HIV. This study highlights that public health programs need to consider the impact of intersectional stigma in order to promote the wellbeing of and improve quality of life for older adults living with HIV. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

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Sexual Revictimization: The Impact of Attachment Anxiety, Accumulated Trauma, and Response to Childhood Sexual Abuse Disclosure

Violence and Victims ◽

10.1891/0886-6708.vv-d-13-00098 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 49-65 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Inbal Brenner ◽

Galit Ben-Amitay

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽

Child Neglect ◽

Attachment Anxiety ◽

Sexual Revictimization ◽

Abuse Disclosure ◽

Sexual Abuse Disclosure ◽

Environmental Responses ◽

Childhood Traumas ◽

The Impact

It has been proposed that a complexity of personal, interpersonal, and environmental factors is related to sexual revictimization among childhood sexual abuse survivors. In this study, we investigated the relations between attachment dimensions, exposure to accumulated childhood traumas, reaction to childhood sexual abuse disclosure, and adult sexual revictimization. Participants were 60 Israeli women with histories of childhood sexual abuse. Seventy percent of the women reported adult sexual revictimization. Revictimization was related to higher attachment anxiety but not to higher attachment avoidance. Revictimization was also related to emotional and physical child abuse but not to emotional and physical child neglect. Revictimization rates were higher among women who had received negative environmental responses following childhood sexual abuse disclosure than among women who had received supportive reactions and those who had not disclosed childhood sexual abuse at all. Findings were significant even after controlling for severity of childhood sexual abuse. The findings emphasize the role of various contextual-interpersonal factors on revictimization vulnerability among the survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

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Virginia Woolf: The Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Her Life and Work, and: Who Killed Virginia Woolf?: A Psychobiography, and: Virginia Woolf: A Study of the Short Fiction, and: Virginia Woolf: Strategist of Language (review)

MFS Modern Fiction Studies ◽

10.1353/mfs.0.0773 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 300-305

Author(s):

Roger Poole

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽

Virginia Woolf ◽

Short Fiction ◽

The Impact

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Survivors of childhood sexual abuse: approaches to therapy

Advances in Psychiatric Treatment ◽

10.1192/apt.4.2.96 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 96-100 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michael Crowe ◽

Christopher Dare

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

New Zealand ◽

Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽

General Population ◽

Family Member ◽

Best Estimate ◽

The Usa

The experience of sexual abuse in childhood is very common (Jehu, 1988). The highest estimate from the USA (Wyatt & Peters, 1986) suggests that 42% of girls up to the age of 17 have experienced abuse, and the best estimate from Britain (Baker & Duncan, 1985) would give a prevalence of between 12 and 20%. Mullen et al (1993) found in a general population of women in New Zealand an overall prevalence of abuse before the age of 16 of 32%, with 20% reporting genital contact and 3% penetrative sex. In the American series half of those abused (21% of the respondents) reported that the abuse was by a family member: the figure for intra-familial abuse in the British series was 14% of those reporting abuse, and thus about 3–5% of all the women who responded. There may be many explanations for the large international variations, including differences in definition, sampling and other aspects of methodology, but it is also possible that abuse is indeed more common in some countries than others.

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