Childhood Maltreatment and Revictimization: The Role of Affect Dysregulation, Interpersonal Relatedness Difficulties and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

ABSTRACT

In this study, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other posttraumatic sequelae, including affect dysregulation and problems with interpersonal relatedness, were examined as potential predictors of revictimization. Data were analyzed for 207 individuals who reported childhood maltreatment per the Child Maltreatment Interview Schedule. Participants included prison inmates, a treatment-seeking community sample, and a sample recruited via the internet. Significant gender differences were found for rates of revictimization. Controlling for the effects of childhood maltreatment, PTSD significantly predicts sexual revictimization of women. Interpersonal relatedness problems enter as a predictor for most types of revictimization of women, and indices reflective of affect dysregulation variably predict the different types of revictimization examined in this study.

KEYWORDS:

• PTSD
• childhood maltreatment
• revictimization