Severity of Child Sexual Abuse and Revictimization: The Mediating Role of Coping and Trauma Symptoms

Abstract

Child sexual abuse (CSA) has consistently been associated with the use of avoidant coping; these coping methods have been associated with increased trauma symptoms, which have, in turn, been linked to increased risk for adult sexual revictimization. Given these previous findings, the purpose of the current study was to test a model that conceptualized the relationships among these variables. Specifically, CSA severity was conceptualized as leading to the use of avoidant coping, which was proposed to lead to maintenance of trauma symptoms, which would, in turn, impact severity of revictimization indirectly. This comprehensive model was tested in a cross‐sectional study of a large, geographically diverse sample of college women. Participants were 99 female undergraduates classified as having experienced CSA who completed measures of abuse history, coping style, current levels of trauma symptoms, and adult sexual revictimization. Multivariate path analysis indicated that the data fit the hypothesized model for verbally coercive, but not physically aggressive, revictimization. Specifically, increased CSA severity was associated with the use of avoidant coping, which, in turn, predicted greater levels of trauma symptomatology and severity of sexual coercion in adulthood. Although cross‐sectional in nature, findings from this study suggest that coping strategies and trauma symptoms may represent modifiable factors that place women at increased risk for verbally coercive sexual revictimization.

In my end is my beginning: developmental trajectories of adverse childhood experiences to late-life suicide

“…Spaccarelli (1994) found that among individuals who have experienced early sexual abuse, coping processes played a crucial mediating role in the development of symptomatology. In one population study (Fortier et al, 2009), childhood sexual abuse severity was associated with the use of avoidant coping, which, in turn, predicted greater levels of trauma symptomatology. In their notable review of the literature on child sexual abuse and coping, Walsh et al (2010) suggested that individuals who have more adaptive means of managing their sexual abuse-related negative emotions may experience less long-term distress than those who have greater difficulty processing such emotions.…”

Pathways from childhood abuse to prospective revictimization: Depression, sex to reduce negative affect, and forecasted sexual behavior

“…The link between adverse childhood experiences and subsequent trauma exposure is robust, and an extensive body of research indicates that women with a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are at particularly high risk for later sexual revictimization (Arata, 2002; Fortier et al, 2009; Krahe, Scheinberger-Olwig, Waizenhofer, & Kolpin, 1999; Messman-Moore & Long, 2003; Widom, Czaja, & Dutton, 2008). Results from a meta-analysis by Roodman and Clum (2001) indicate that 15 to 79 percent of women reporting CSA also experience adult sexual assault (ASA), and a review by Classen, Palesh, and Aggarwal (2005) found that experiencing CSA doubles or even triples a woman’s risk for ASA.…”

Psychological Distress and Revictimization Risk in Youth Victims of Sexual Abuse

“…Risser and colleagues (2006) found that hyper-arousal symptoms hindered the ability to sense real from perceived danger, placing victims with PTSD symptoms in risky situations. Trauma symptoms, including intrusive thoughts and emotional reactivity, may also be exacerbated by avoidant coping styles, which further strengthen the CSA-revictimization relationship (Fortier et al, 2009). In addition, dissociation, a type of avoidance symptom of PTSD, may decrease awareness of one's surroundings and the ability to detect danger (Chu, 1992).…”