THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MEASURE OF CORRELATES OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE - THE TRAUMATIC SEXUALIZATION SURVEY

The present research developed an instrument which assesses cognitive and behavioral factors purportedly associated with child sexual abuse histories. Finkelhor and Browne's construct of traumatic sexualization served as a guide for item selection. The study resulted in a 38-item reliable measure consisting of four subscales: Avoidance and Fear of Sexual and Physical Intimacy, Thoughts About Sex, Role of Sex in Relat ionships, and Attraction/Interest and Sexuality. Construct validity wa s established using a variety of self-report instruments associated wi th the dimensions of traumatic sexualization. Sexually abused women sc ored higher than nonabused women on three TSS factors. Physically abus ed women differed from nonabused women on only one factor. Sexually ab used women did not score significantly higher than physically abused w omen on any factors.