There are few psychometrically valid measures of exposure to social maltreatment that simultaneously assess sexism, racism, and anti-LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other nonheteronormative) behavior, despite the commonness of these phenomena. The (SDMS) meets this requirement but is, as a result, somewhat lengthy (36 items). This article introduces a short form of the SDMS containing only half the number of items but generally retaining the psychometric qualities of the original measure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn contrast to adults, there is considerably less research on childhood or adolescent exposure to sexual harassment (CAESH), its lasting psychological correlates, and whether such experiences should be included in definitions of childhood sexual abuse. The current study examined the prevalence and symptomatic sequels of unwanted flirting, being "checked out" sexually, unwanted sexual attention, sexual comments, propositions, and related noncontact behaviors that occurred before age 18, as well as the multivariate relationship between CAESH and contact child sexual abuse (C-CSA) in a diverse online sample of 528 individuals. CAESH was very common, with over 95% of women and 64% of men reporting at least one experience of noncontact sexual harassment before age 18.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Maltreatment based on race, sex, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or other sexual and gender minorities (LGBTQ+) status is a significant life stressor, potentially independent of whether it can be categorized as a , fifth edition, text revision (DSM-5-TR) trauma. Yet there is a relative lack of research systematically examining these events, their intersectionality, and links to posttraumatic stress (PTS). The purpose of this study was to develop a comprehensive measure of social discrimination and maltreatment (SDM) and to examine whether these events can serve as potential traumatic stressors, above-and-beyond classic trauma exposure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Orthopsychiatry
February 2024
An online sample of 528 people was asked to respond to a hypothetical scenario: Participants also reported on whether they experienced aggressive behavior by police in the past (provoked or otherwise) and, if so, completed a measure of associated posttraumatic stress. At least some fear of being killed by police (FKP) in the rearview mirror scenario was reported by the majority (56%) of Black participants, 39% of those self-describing as "other or mixed" race, and 31% of Hispanic participants, as compared to 26% of those of Asian descent and 19% of those identifying as White. When the highest level of FKP was considered, Black participants were 12 times more likely than White participants to report "extreme" fear of death at the hands of police.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Some individuals who have been sexually assaulted as adolescents or adults have also been abused in childhood, although it is not clear how different forms of childhood maltreatment are related to adolescent/adult sexual assault, and how earlier abuse alters the relationship between sexual assault and current symptomatology.
Objective: We sought to determine which types of child maltreatment are associated with adolescent or adult sexual assault, whether such child maltreatment interacts with sexual assault to predict more severe symptoms, and if sexual assault has unique symptom correlates after controlling for prior child maltreatment.
Participants And Setting: Participants were 398 women recruited online.
Objectives: Survivors of early interpersonal trauma may experience relational problems, anger, impulsive and self-destructive behaviors, identity disturbance, and other difficulties that are associated with borderline personality disorder. Insecure attachment also has been documented in survivors and may be related to borderline personality-related symptoms (BPRS). The goal of the current study was to examine an integrative model of maternal and paternal childhood maltreatment and insecure attachment as they predict BPRS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Based on the paucity of self-report measures of disorganized attachment (DA), we developed and tested a scale examining adults' self-reported disorganized verbalizations, cognitions, and behaviors when discussing their childhoods.
Method: The Disorganized Response Scale (DRS) was created and administered to 640 university students, and its associations with variables known to covary with DA, such as childhood maltreatment, insecure attachment, and psychological symptoms, were examined.
Results: Factor analysis of DRS items revealed a single 15-item dimension that reflected participants' self-reported disorganized responses when discussing their childhoods.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health concern. Yet, despite an increasingly extensive literature on interpersonal violence, research on male victims of IPV remains sparse and the associations between different forms of child maltreatment (CM) and IPV victimization and perpetration in men remains unclear. The present meta-analysis evaluated five different forms of CM (sexual, physical, and psychological abuses, neglect, and witnessing IPV) as they predicted sexual, psychological, and physical IPV perpetration and victimization in men.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearch has shown that female survivors of childhood abuse (CA) are more likely than nonabused women to experience long-term physical health concerns. Adult attachment may influence this relationship given that attachment insecurity has been linked to poorer physical health and postulated mechanisms of action are similar. This study used structural equation modeling to investigate whether adult attachment insecurity mediates the relationship between four types of CA and self-reported physical health in 538 undergraduate women.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBased on attachment theory, we hypothesized that self-reported childhood experiences of disengaged parenting (DP) would predict adults' psychological symptoms even more than, on average, childhood sexual, physical, or psychological abuse. In a large (N=640) university sample, bootstrapped multiple regression analyses indicated that although various forms of child maltreatment were correlated with symptomatology at the univariate level, DP was the primary multivariate predictor. Structural equation modeling indicated significant direct paths from (a) DP to both nonsexual child maltreatment and sexual abuse, (b) DP and nonsexual child maltreatment to insecure attachment, and (c) sexual abuse and insecure attachment to symptomatology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study tested a moderation model in which the association between child sexual abuse severity and negative sexual outcomes (i.e., sexual avoidance and compulsivity) differed as a function of relationships status (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe empirical literature indicates that childhood emotional abuse (CEA) produces long lasting impairments in interpersonal relatedness and identity, often referred to as self-capacities. CEA has also been shown to negatively impact couple functioning. This study examined the role of identity and interpersonal conflicts in mediating the relationship between CEA and women's report of couple adjustment among 184 French Canadian women from the general population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Nerv Ment Dis
June 2015
A number of studies suggest that dissociation is reliably related to trauma exposure, and that inadequate regulation of posttraumatic distress may be a significant factor. We examined whether affect dysregulation predicts dissociation in those denying any lifetime exposure to trauma. These relationships were evaluated in a general population sample and a second sample of nontraumatized university students.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe main objectives of this study were to test a theory-based mediation model in which the relation between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and dyadic adjustment is mediated through adult sexual avoidance and sexual compulsivity and to examine the gender-invariance of this model. A sample of 686 adults currently involved in a close relationship completed online self-report computerized questionnaires. Prevalence of CSA was 20% in women and 19% in men.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This retrospective, cross-sectional study investigated the association between childhood physical and psychological maltreatment and self-reported physical health concerns in adult women. The mediating roles of perceived stress and coping strategies were examined.
Methods: Participants were 235 women (aged 18-59 years) recruited from the community.
This study investigated the links between sexual assault experiences, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and adverse physical health outcomes among undergraduate women. Existing research has demonstrated that posttraumatic stress disorder mediates the relationship between trauma exposure and physical health in general, but this has yet to be tested for sexual assault specifically. Using structural equation modeling, support was found for a model in which posttraumatic stress symptom severity partially mediates the association between sexual assault severity and self-reported health outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDisproportionately high rates of sexual revictimization have been noted among former victims of child sexual abuse (CSA), yet researchers have yet to determine the source of this apparent vulnerability to reexperience sexual violence. This study explores this issue by examining sexual self-esteem, sexual concerns, and sexual behaviors among 402 university women. Compared to women without a history of CSA (n = 348), women with a history of CSA (n = 54) had lower sexual self-esteem, poorer sexual adjustment, and were 2 times more likely to have experienced sexual assault since the age of 14 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe dimensionality of dissociation was examined in a combined sample of 1,326 general population, clinical, and university participants who completed the Multiscale Dissociation Inventory (MDI). Principal components analysis identified five moderately intercorrelated factors (mean r = .39): Disengagement, Identity Dissociation, Emotional Constriction, Memory Disturbance, and Depersonalization/Derealization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis article describes the Inventory of Altered Self-Capacities (IASC), a 63-item standardized measure of disturbed functioning in relation to self and others. The seven scales of the IASC are Interpersonal Conflicts, Idealization-Disillusionment, Abandonment Concerns, Identity Impairment, Susceptibility to Influence, Affect Dysregulation, and Tension Reduction Activities. The psychometric properties of the IASC were examined in general population, clinical, and university samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChild Maltreat
August 2002
Three health symptom checklists were used to measure physical health concerns among university women in relation to prior child physical maltreatment (CPM) (20%, n = 153) and child sexual abuse (CSA) (19%, n = 143). A history of CPM was related to all three general areas of health concerns as well as to many of the specific subscales comprising the measures (e.g.
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