Perpetration, Revictimization, and Self-Injury: Traumatic Reenactments of Child Sexual Abuse in a Nonclinical Sample of South African Adolescents

Abstract

Risk factors for traumatic reenactments of child sexual abuse experiences (perpetration, revictimization, and self-injury) were examined in a sample of 718 South African secondary school adolescents. Logistic regression analyses indicated that the most consistent predictors of reenactments were a history of child sexual abuse (rape and/or indecent assault) and respondents’ gender, with males being significantly more likely than females to report perpetration (OR = 13.5) and females being more likely to report revictimization (OR = 3.2) and self-injury (OR = 2.5). An analysis restricted to respondents with a history of child sexual abuse indicated that negative abuse-related cognitions were the most consistent predictor of all forms of traumatic reenactment.

KEYWORDS:

• adolescents
• child sexual abuse
• perpetration
• self-injury
• South Africa
• traumatic reenactment
• revictimization

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Susan L. Penning

Susan L. Penning, MSS, is a doctoral student in the School of Applied Human Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Her current research interests focus on traumatic reenactments in the aftermath of exposure to interpersonal developmental trauma. She received her MSS from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Steven J. Collings

Steven J. Collings, PhD, is a professor in the School of Applied Human Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. His current research interests focus on the psychological effects of exposure to complex developmental trauma. He obtained his PhD from the University of Natal.