L. Briggs et Pr. Joyce, WHAT DETERMINES POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER SYMPTOMATOLOGY FOR SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE, Child abuse & neglect, 21(6), 1997, pp. 575-582
Objective: The aim of this paper was to ascertain which childhood abus
e experiences are associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
symptomatology for women survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). M
ethod: Seventy-three women attending a Family Health Counselling Servi
ce's Sexual Abuse Program were invited to participate in a study looki
ng at the effectiveness of sexual abuse counselling. Initially, the wo
men completed a series of self-report questionnaires including a measu
re of PTSD symptoms, and were interviewed about childhood abuse experi
ences. Results: PTSD symptoms were associated with higher levels of al
l psychopathology. However, more interestingly, the severity of PTSD s
ymptoms was also associated with the extent of CSA which involved actu
al sexual intercourse. This association of repeated abuse involving se
xual intercourse with PTSD symptoms was still significant (partial coe
fficient =.30, p,.000) even when controlling for general level of psyc
hopathology. Conclusions: One of the long-term effects of child sexual
abuse (CSA) is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the women w
ho reported multiple abusive episodes which involved sexual intercours
e had increased symptoms of PTSD. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd,.