Citation

Zlotnick C, Zakriski AL, Shea MT, Costello E, Begin A, Pearlstein T, Simpson E. J. Trauma. Stress 1996; 9(2): 195-205.

Affiliation

Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8731542

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and symptoms of a newly proposed complex posttraumatic stress disorder or disorder of extreme stress not otherwise specified (DESNOS). Compared to 34 women without histories of sexual abuse, 74 survivors of sexual abuse showed increased severity on DESNOS symptoms of somatization, dissociation, hostility, anxiety, alexithymia, social dysfunction, maladaptive schemas, self-destruction and adult victimization. In addition, a logistic regression found that a complex of symptoms representing DESNOS was significantly related to a history of sexual abuse. Consistent with other studies, the results of this study provide support for the idea that symptoms of DESNOS characterize survivors of sexual abuse.

Language: en