THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE AND ADULT MALE SEXUALDYSFUNCTION

Objective: The present study investigated the relationship between chi ldhood sexual abuse and adult sexual dysfunction in men. In addition, the investigation compared sexually abused men and women on the charac teristics of the sexual abuse. Method: Subjects were 359 men who sough t sexual dysfunction treatment. Thirty men reported a history of sexua l abuse. Characteristics of the sexual abuse experienced by these men also were compared to the sexual abuse experienced by 73 women initial ly investigated elsewhere (Sarwer & Durlak, 1996). Results: Sexual abu se was not found to predict sexual dysfunction in these men. Rather, u nemployment served as the only significant predictor of male sexual dy sfunction. Comparisons of the sexual abuse reported by male and female victims indicated that males were more likely to experience physical force, bur were less likely than female victims to be abused more than once and to be abused by an adult. Conclusions: The results support t he notion that childhood sexual abuse may not be as disruptive to adul t sexual functioning in men as it is in women. This difference may be a function of the specific circumstances of the sexual abuse. Suggesti ons for future research on male sexual abuse are provided. (C) 1997 El sevier Science Ltd.