TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Emotional and sexual correlates of child sexual abuse as a function of self-definition status
JO  - Child maltreatment
A1  - Vaillancourt-Morel, Marie-Pier
A1  - Godbout, Natacha
A1  - Bédard, Maryline Germain
A1  - Charest, Émilie
A1  - Briere, John
A1  - Sabourin, Stephane
SP  - 228
EP  - 238
VL  - 21
IS  - 3
N2  - Among individuals defined as having been sexually abused based on legal criteria, some will self-report having been abused and some will not. Yet, the empirical correlates of self-definition status are not well studied. Different definitions of abuse may lead to varying prevalence rates and contradictory findings regarding psychological outcomes. The present study examined whether, among legally defined sexual abuse survivors, identifying oneself as having experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA) was associated with more severe abuse, negative emotional reactions toward the abuse, and current sexual reactions. A convenience sample of 1,021 French-speaking Canadians completed self-report questionnaires online. The prevalence of legally defined CSA was 21.3% in women and 19.6% in men, as compared to 7.1% in women and 3.8% in men for self-defined CSA. Among legally defined sexual abuse survivors, those who identified themselves as CSA survivors had been abused more frequently, were more likely to report a male aggressor, and more often described abuse by a parental figure than those who did not self-identify as abused. Further, self-defined CSA was associated with more negative postabuse reactions and sexual avoidance, whereas those not identifying as sexually abused were more likely to report sexual compulsion.<br><br>© The Author(s) 2016.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1077-5595
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1077559516656069
ID  - ref1
ER  -