Sexual abuse

About: Sexual abuse is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 32237 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1291537 citations. The topic is also known as: molestation & sex abuse.

Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study

Abstract: Results: More than half of respondents reported at least one, and one-fourth reported $2 categories of childhood exposures. We found a graded relationship between the number of categories of childhood exposure and each of the adult health risk behaviors and diseases that were studied (P , .001). Persons who had experienced four or more categories of childhood exposure, compared to those who had experienced none, had 4to 12-fold increased health risks for alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, and suicide attempt; a 2- to 4-fold increase in smoking, poor self-rated health, $50 sexual intercourse partners, and sexually transmitted disease; and a 1.4- to 1.6-fold increase in physical inactivity and severe obesity. The number of categories of adverse childhood exposures showed a graded relationship to the presence of adult diseases including ischemic heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, skeletal fractures, and liver disease. The seven categories of adverse childhood experiences were strongly interrelated and persons with multiple categories of childhood exposure were likely to have multiple health risk factors later in life. Conclusions: We found a strong graded relationship between the breadth of exposure to abuse or household dysfunction during childhood and multiple risk factors for several of the leading causes of death in adults. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH): child abuse, sexual, domestic violence, spouse abuse, children of impaired parents, substance abuse, alcoholism, smoking, obesity, physical activity, depression, suicide, sexual behavior, sexually transmitted diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ischemic heart disease. (Am J Prev Med 1998;14:245‐258) © 1998 American Journal of Preventive Medicine

The Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2): Development and Preliminary Psychometric Data

Abstract: This article describes a revised Conflict Tactics Scales (the CTS2) to measure psychological and physical attacks on a partner in a marital, cohabiting, or dating relationship; and also use of negotiation. The CTS2 has (a) additional items to enhance content validity and reliability; (b) revised wording to increase clarity and specificity; (c) better differentiation between minor and severe levels of each scale; (d) new scales to measure sexual coercion and physical injury; and (e) a new format to simplify administration and reduce response sets. Reliability ranges from .79 to .95. There is preliminary evidence of construct validity.

Development and validation of a brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire

Abstract: Objective: The goal of this study was to develop and validate a short form of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (the CTQ-SF) as a screening measure for maltreatment histories in both clinical and nonreferred groups. Method: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the 70 original CTQ items were used to create a 28-item version of the scale (25 clinical items and three validity items) and test the measurement invariance of the 25 clinical items across four samples: 378 adult substance abusing patients from New York City, 396 adolescent psychiatric inpatients, 625 substance abusing individuals from southwest Texas, and 579 individuals from a normative community sample (combined N =1978). Results: Results showed that the CTQ-SF’s items held essentially the same meaning across all four samples (i.e., measurement invariance). Moreover, the scale demonstrated good criterion-related validity in a subsample of adolescents on whom corroborative data were available. Conclusions: These findings support the viability of the CTQ-SF across diverse clinical and nonreferred populations.

The fifth edition of the addiction severity index

Abstract: The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) is 12 years old and has been revised to include a new section on family history of alcohol, drug, and psychiatric problems. New items were added in existing sections to assess route of drug administration; additional illegal activities; emotional, physical, and sexual abuse; quality of the recovery environment; and history of close personal relationships. No changes were made in the composite scoring to maintain comparability with previous editions. This article discusses the clinical and research uses of the ASI over the past 12 years, emphasizing some special circumstances that affect its administration. The article then describes the rationale for and description of the changes made in the ASI. The final section provides "normative data" on the composite scores and severity ratings for samples of opiate, alcohol, and cocaine abusers as well as drug abusing inmates, pregnant women, homeless men, and psychiatrically ill substance abusers.

Psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist (PCL).

Abstract: The psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist (PCL), a new, brief, self-report instrument, were determined on a population of 40 motor vehicle accident victims and sexual assault victims using diagnoses and scores from the CAPS (Clinician Administered PTSD Scale) as the criteria. For the PCL as a whole, the correlation with the CAPS was 0.929 and diagnostic efficiency was 0.900 versus CAPS. Examination of the individual items showed wide ranging values of individual item correlations ranging from 0.386 to 0.788, and with diagnostic efficiencies of 0.700 or better for symptoms. We support the value of the PCL as a brief screening instrument for PTSD.