Studies the strategies that 41 perpetrators of child abuse used to insure that the victim remained silent. Results indicate that the perpetrators altered their strategies to coincide with the developmental level of the child. (RJC)

Undergraduate students (N=404) read vignettes depicting a sexual interaction between a child and an adult in which the child's sex, child's age, and adult's sex were manipulated. Abuse was perceived as worse if the child was younger and for same-sex (rather than opposite-sex) interactions. Gender-role attitudes were not related to abusiveness or…

Evaluation of the psychiatric histories and projective test responses of 102 sexually abused girls found that the following characteristics of abuse were significantly associated with greater psychological disturbance: more than one perpetrator, an early age of abuse onset, and periods of intense and frequent abuse episodes. A relatively stable…

This study, using multivariate analysis and operationalized variables, examined possible risk factors for childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in 3,958 Australian women. The variables significantly associated with CSA were physical abuse, having a mother who was mentally ill, not having someone to confide in, and being socially isolated. Different…

Comparison of 87 child abuse victims of lone female perpetrators with 93 victims of lone male perpetrators found that female perpetrators abused children 3.3 years younger than male perpetrators. Both female and male perpetrators abused more girls than boys and did not differ in severity of abuse. (Author/DB)

Interviews with 96 children and 73 adolescents following sexual abuse found significant age and sex differences. Adolescents reported a higher level of depressive symptoms, negative reactions by others, and lower levels of self-esteem, social support, and sexual anxiety. Girls reported higher levels of intrusive thoughts, hyperarousal, sexual…

This study assessed children's original perceptions of sexual abuse risk, perceptions of risk after participation in a sexual abuse prevention program, and age differences in children's beliefs about risk. Findings indicate that children's already high perceptions of sexual abuse risk increased after participation in the prevention program.…

Sixty-five sexually abused children (ages 5-17) were administered the Children's Depression Inventory. Results indicated that older victims were more likely to describe themselves as being depressed and to report suicidal ideation, and those older victims with less compliant mothers were more likely to have scores above the 90th percentile.…

Analysis of interactions during 55 videotaped interviews of high-risk sex abuse cases found no support for the assumption that a credible disclosure of abuse must include the display of emotion by the child. Some behavioral differences between preschool and school-age children were found, but no gender differences. (Author/DB)