Personality traits of women with a history of childhood sexual abuse

This study examined relationships between specific dimensions of childhood sexual abuse and personality traits in adulthood. Study participants were 7 4 hospitalized female psychiatric patients with a self-reported history of childhood sexual abuse. Characteristics of childhood sexual abuse were obta ined from a structured life-events interview. Personality was measured with the NEO-Five-Factor inventory (NEO-FFI), which yields scores on neuroticis m, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousne ss. We hypothesized that parental abuse, intercourse, and the combination o f these two childhood sexual abuse characteristics would be associated with personality traits. Supporting this hypothesis, women who were abused by a parent had lower scores on openness to experience than women who were abus ed by someone else. Patients whose abuse history included both parental abu se and intercourse had very low extraversion scores. Our findings suggest t hat there are associations between personality traits and childhood sexual abuse characteristics in psychiatric patients. Specifically, women who expe rienced intercourse by a parent may he more introverted and less open to ex perience than women whose sexual abuse history does not include parental in cest. Copyright (C) 2000 by W.B. Saunders Company.