Effect of Childhood Sexual Abuse and Selection of Intimate Partner



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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION1

Characteristics of the Literature1

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder2

CSA, Trauma and Memory4

Memory of Traumatic and Non-Traumatic Experiences6

Short- and Long-Term Effects Associated with CSA9

Adult Survivors of CSA12

Effects of CSA on Adult Relationships14

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION18

REFERENCES21

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION

The literature on CSA is growing and controversial. CSA is perpetrated 80% of the time by persons who are members of the child's family system or who are known and trusted by the child's family. For the purposes of this review of literature, family systems are conceptualized to include persons from the child's micro- and meso-system with blood or social ties to the child. These are known persons, rightfully expected to protect the child, treat the child warmly, and maintain appropriate sexual distance (Kihlstrom 2004). The sexual abuse of children by such persons is often referred to in the literature as incest. Traumatically experienced CSA is defined as a form of childhood interpersonal trauma. Childhood interpersonal trauma is conceptualized as traumatically-experienced maltreatment of a child by another person. Memory of CSA includes the entire field of implicit and explicit recall of experiences of sexual abuse (Bliss 2006).

Characteristics of the Literature

Most research on sexual abuse and memory of CSA is based on retrospective self-report. The topic of CSA is extremely difficult to investigate in a prospective manner. Very limited quantitative data are available relevant to (a) the specific effects of CSA on children at different developmental levels, (b) the manner in which memories of CSA emerge, and (c) the impact of memory of CSA on the lives and intimate partner relationships of adults remembering CSA (Blume 2005).

Data are available on the incidence and prevalence of CSA in the population. As noted in the introduction, surveys indicate that one quarter to one third of adult women, and one seventh to one quarter of adult men remember experiences of unwanted sexual contact with an older person during childhood or adolescence. Varying definitions of CSA are utilized by different researchers. There is a profusion of information about the symptoms shown by those who report a history of CSA. This information clarifies the association between CSA and adult psychiatric disorders. Empirical data connect the symptoms of several psychiatric disorders to reported experiences of CSA. CSA and its effects are reported to be minimized and misunderstood by a number of influential persons in the scientific community (Alpert 2005).

Judith Alpert notes there are two distinct literatures (scientific memory research and scholarly literature on trauma and CSA) that contribute to our understanding of memory of childhood abuse. These distinct literatures have, in general, not been integrated (Herman 1986).

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Many models have been suggested for PTSD. These include (a) biological models, (b) psychodynamic models, (c) cognitive information processing models, and (d) a behavioral model. With the possible exception of Jones and Barlow's biological model, those models fit within the parameters of trauma theory as described in this paper. According to Heller (2008), PTSD specifically results from genetic vulnerability to psychopathology rather than from the ...