TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1998//
TI  - Sexual abuse and adolescent maladjustment: differences between male and female victims
JO  - Journal of Adolescence
A1  - Garnefski, N.
A1  - Arends, E.
SP  - 99
EP  - 107
VL  - 21
IS  - 1
N2  - In this study data from a large representative community sample of adolescents were analysed to investigate the relationship between a history of sexual abuse and adolescent functioning. Emotional problems, behavioural problems, suicidal thoughts and behaviour of boys and girls with a history of sexual abuse were compared to those in a matched control group of boys and girls without such a history. Both sexually abused boys and girls reported significantly more emotional problems, behavioural problems, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts than their non-abused counterparts. The results also indicated that the experience of sexual abuse carried far more consequences for boys than for girls regarding the use of alcohol, aggressive/criminal behaviour, use of drugs, and the amount of truancy, as well as regarding suicidal thoughts and behaviour. For example, whereas 2.6% of the non-abused boys reported a former suicide attempt, this percentage was 13 times higher for the sexually abused boys (26.5%). The results of this paper lend support to the call for further research investigating gender differences in response to sexual abuse.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0140-1971
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jado.1997.0132
ID  - ref1
ER  -