Psychology of Computer Use: XX. Sexual Abuse Recalled: Evaluation of a Computerized Questionnaire in a Population of Young Adult Males

Abstract

Development of a computerized questionnaire for investigating prevalence of child sexual abuse as "unwanted sexual contact" prior to Age 17 and associated long-term mental health sequelae is described. The computerized technique has technical advantages, and in a study of 200 university men elicited significantly more recall of prior abuse (in 14% of subjects) than a paper questionnaire.

Avoidant and compulsive sexual behaviors in male and female survivors of childhood sexual abuse

“…Second, some aspects of our methodology may have facilitated greater disclosure of CSA in male survivors (almost 20% as compared to approximately 8% in a recent meta-analytic study ;Stoltenborgh, Van IJzendoorn, Euser, & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2011). For example, the use of an anonymous Internet-based survey (Bagley & Genuis, 1991), a broader definition of CSA, and a neutral inquiry that did not specifically label reported sexual experiences as CSA or the participants as victims may have helped to identify more men as CSA survivors. If some male survivors had been excluded from the group of CSA survivors and placed in the control group, this could have contributed to artificial evidence of a gender difference.…”

Computerized adaptive measurement of depression: A simulation study

“…To the contrary, computerized data collection directly from patients appears to reduce social desirability bias in the reporting of alcohol and drug use, sexual activity, and medication noncompliance [23]. Of particular interest, is the suggestion that people seem to prefer revealing some types of very personal information e.g., gynecological details [24], sexual abuse [25], or suicidal ideation [26] to a computer than a person. Similarly, alcoholics seeking treatment disclosed greater levels of consumption of alcohol to a computer than to a person [27].…”

Evaluation of a Computer-Assisted Self-Interview Component in a Computer-Assisted Personal Interview Survey

“…Computer administration of psychological tests is widespread, as is their use for self-administration of items in clinical settings (e.g., Bagley and Genuis 1991;Boekeloo et al 1994;Greaud and Green 1986;Spray et al 1989). However, most implementations of CASI as part of interviewer-administered surveys have been for experimental purposes only.…”