Abstract
A review of 45 studies clearly demonstrated that sexually abused children had more symptoms than nonabused children, with abuse accounting for 15-45% of the variance. Fears, posttraumatic stress disorder, behavior problems, sexualized behaviors, and poor self-esteem occurred most frequently among a long list of symptoms noted, but no one symptom characterized a majority of sexually abused children. Some symptoms were specific to certain ages, and approximately one third of victims had no symptoms. Penetration, the duration and frequency of the abuse, force, the relationship of the perpetrator to the child, and maternal support affected the degree of symptomatology. About two thirds of the victimized children showed recovery during the first 12-18 months. The findings suggest the absence of any specific syndrome in children who have been sexually abused and no single traumatizing process.
Keywords
Sexual abusePsychologyClinical psychologyChild abuseChild sexual abuseInjury preventionVictimologyPoison controlHuman factors and ergonomicsPsychiatrySuicide preventionPosttraumatic stressMedicineMedical emergency
Affiliated Institutions
Related Publications
Criminal Victimization: Lifetime Prevalence, Reporting to Police, and Psychological Impact
A sample of 391 adult females were interviewed about lifetime criminal victimization experiences, crime reporting, and psychological impact. In total, 75% of the sample (n = 295...
Rape Trauma Syndrome
The authors interviewed and followed 146 patients admitted during a one-year period to the emergency ward of a city hospital with a presenting complaint of having been raped. Ba...
Child abuse: Adolescent records vs. adult recall
In a follow-up study of incarcerated Connecticut youth, 69 subjects were interviewed during young adulthood. On follow-up, 26 gave histories of abuse discrepant with histories o...
Prevalence of civilian trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in a representative national sample of women.
Prevalence of crime and noncrime civilian traumatic events, lifetime posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and PTSD in the past 6 months were assessed in a sample of U.S. adult ...
Publication Info
- Year
- 1993
- Type
- review
- Volume
- 113
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 164-180
- Citations
- 2461
- Access
- Closed
External Links
Social Impact
Altmetric
PlumX Metrics
Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions
Citation Metrics
2461
OpenAlex
Cite This
Kathleen Kendall–Tackett,
Linda M. Williams,
David Finkelhor
(1993).
Impact of sexual abuse on children: A review and synthesis of recent empirical studies..
Psychological Bulletin
, 113
(1)
, 164-180.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.113.1.164
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1037/0033-2909.113.1.164