Childhood Sexual Abuse and Revictimization In Adolescence and Adulthood

Abstract

Childhood sexual abuse must be seen as a pervasive risk factor in children's lives: No demographic or family characteristics have as yet been identified to rule out the possibility that a child will be or has been sexually abused (Finkelhor, 1993). The adverse consequences of sexual abuse, both immediate and long term, have been documented by a large body of research. After a summary of the main findings from this research, the main objective of the present chapter is to examine the impact of childhood sexual abuse on a particular aspect of psychological functioning: the development of sexual behavior and sexual relationships. In this analysis, special consideration is given to the question of whether individuals who were sexually abused as children are at greater risk of experiencing sexual victimization in later life than individuals without experience of abuse. This question has generated a substantial body of evidence (see Messman & Long, 1996, for a review), and researchers are beginning to understand pathways from the experience of abuse in childhood to revictimization in adolescence and adulthood.