Revictimization and information processing in women survivors of childhoodsexual abuse

This study examined the effect of sexual revictimization on information pro cessing of trauma-related stimuli in a sample of child sexual abuse (CSA) s urvivors diagnosed with posttraumatic: stress disorder (PTSD). Fifty-one tr eatment-seeking women participated in this study. Participants completed th e Sexual Experiences Survey regarding sexual revictimization in the last 6 months and performed a modified emotional Stroop task in which they named t he colors of neutral words (e.g., apple), general threat words (e.g., malig nant and death), and sexual/victimization words (e.g., penis and abuser). A s predicted, the revictimized participants (n = 16) took significantly long er to color-name sexual/victimization words than did the nonrevictimized pa rticipants. These results suggest that revictimization serves to prime pree xisting "trauma" memory networks, thereby amplifying the impact of childhoo d sexual trauma on selective attention toward trauma-related stimuli. (C) 2 001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.