ABSTRACT

This study examined associations between child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors’ self-definition status (i.e., whether or not survivors self-identified as sexually abused) and multiple measures of psychopathology, self-system functioning, and risk behaviors. We evaluated the hypothesis that survivors with concordant abuse perceptions (i.e., individuals who reported objective CSA and self-defined as sexually abused) would evidence more pronounced adjustment difficulties in young adulthood than survivors with discordant perceptions (i.e., individuals who reported objective CSA but did not self-define as sexually abused). In this large and ethnically diverse college student sample (N = 2,195; 63.8% female, 36.2% male; 83.3% nonwhite), objective experiences of CSA were associated with increased psychopathology, decreased self-system functioning, and increased risk behaviors, but the magnitude of these effects varied by survivors’ self-definition status. Relative to their nonmaltreated peers, survivors with concordant abuse perceptions evidenced the largest elevations in psychopathology and risk behaviors, whereas survivors with discordant abuse perceptions evidenced the largest deficits in self-system functioning. These findings indicate that standard screening criteria may misidentify a sizable group of CSA survivors because these individuals do not perceive their experiences as “abuse.” Efforts to understand the meaning ascribed to CSA experiences may profitably guide clinical interventions to enhance specific domains of functioning.

摘要

这项研究检查了儿童性虐待 (CSA) 幸存者的自我定义状态（即幸存者是否自我认定为性虐待）与心理病理学、自我系统功能和风险行为的多种衡量标准之间的关联。我们评估了这样一个假设，即具有一致虐待认知的幸存者（即报告客观 CSA 并自我定义为性虐待的个体）在青年时期将证明比具有不一致认知的幸存者（即报告客观 CSA 但不是自我定义为性虐待）。在这个庞大且种族多样的大学生样本中（N= 2,195；63.8% 女性，36.2% 男性；83.3% 非白人），CSA 的客观经历与精神病理学增加、自我系统功能降低和危险行为增加有关，但这些影响的程度因幸存者的自我定义状态而异。与未受虐待的同龄人相比，具有一致虐待认知的幸存者在精神病理学和风险行为方面表现出最大的提升，而具有不一致虐待认知的幸存者则证明了自我系统功能的最大缺陷。这些发现表明，标准筛查标准可能会错误地识别大量 CSA 幸存者，因为这些人不会将他们的经历视为“虐待”。