Dissociation and Sexual Concerns in Male Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse: The Role of Identity Cohesion

ABSTRACT

Research on male survivors of childhood sexual abuse is notably deficient when it comes to addressing their sexual concerns, such as experiences of sexual distress, negative thoughts, and feelings related to their sexuality. Dissociation, a known consequence of childhood sexual abuse, could be associated with higher sexual concerns through identity cohesion. Precisely, dissociation can potentially be related to lower identity cohesion (e.g., not knowing what you want or need). In return, lower identity cohesion may be related to higher sexual concerns by impeding the capacity to know and accept oneself, which tends to promote a positive and healthy sexuality. This study aimed to examine the role of identity cohesion in the link between dissociation and sexual concerns in 105 men consulting for their history of childhood sexual abuse. Men completed questionnaires assessing dissociation, sexual concerns, and identity cohesion at admission in a community setting. Results of a path analysis revealed an indirect association between dissociation and higher sexual concerns through lower identity cohesion. The model explained 27.6% of the variance in sexual concerns. This study highlights the relevance of interventions targeting dissociative symptoms to improve identity cohesion and sexual health in male survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

KEYWORDS:

• Dissociation
• sexual concerns
• male survivors
• childhood sexual abuse
• identity difficulties

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Informed consent

All participants included in this study had given their informed consent.

Research involving human participants and/or animals

All procedures and analyses performed in this study, which involved human participants, were approved by the institutional review board of research involving human subjects of the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).

Data availability statement

The data that supports the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author [NG], upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

Élise Villeneuve has been awarded master fellowships from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council - Besc M (SSHRC) and from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec (#324760). This work was also supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight grant to N. Godbout [# 890-2020-0055], and by a Research Scholar Grant to N. Godbout from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé [# 251615].