Citation

Lemieux S, Tourigny M, Joly J, Baril K, Séguin M. Rev. Epidemiol. Sante Publique 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Vernacular Title

Caractéristiques associées à la dépression et aux symptômes de stress post-traumatique chez les femmes victimes d’agression sexuelle durant l’enfance.

Affiliation

Département de psychoéducation, université du Québec en Outaouais, Gatineau, Québec, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.respe.2019.05.012

PMID

31353238

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A significant proportion of childhood sexual abuse victims suffer from psychological sequelae in adulthood. Factors that provide a better understanding for the reasons why some victims develop these sequelae remain under-explored. In this context, the main objective is to examine the specific contribution of the contextual characteristics of childhood sexual abuse, multitype childhood maltreatment and adolescent suicide attempts on the development of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in adulthood among sexually abused women as children. A secondary objective aimed to establish the prevalence of various forms of childhood maltreatment, adult onset post-traumatic stress disorder and depression among those women.

METHODS: The sample included 479 women victims of childhood sexual abuse who participated in two separate surveys taken by women in the province of Quebec.

RESULTS: More than half of these women reported at least one other form of childhood maltreatment, 30% of them presented post-traumatic disorder and 40% suffered from depression in adulthood. Regression analysis indicates that post-traumatic stress disorder was associated with early onset childhood sexual abuse and intergenerational continuity of sexual victimization, as well as childhood physical maltreatment and negligence. Depression was associated with childhood psychological maltreatment and negligence, a non-supportive response following child sexual abuse related disclosure and suicide attempt in adolescence.

CONCLUSION: These results confirm the need to consider the cumulative effects of various childhood adversity factors in the psychosocial assessment of sexually abused women in early life, thus helping to better understand and treat their psychological sequelae.

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Language: fr

Keywords

Agression sexuelle à l’enfance; Associated factors; Childhood maltreatment; Childhood sexual abuse; Depression; Dépression; Facteurs associés; Femmes; Mauvais traitements dans l’enfance; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Prevalence; Prévalence; Trouble de stress post-traumatique; Women