The Effect of Sexual Abuse on Posttraumatic Psychiatric Symptoms in Children and Adolescents with Sexual Abuse

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the characteristics of victim and sexual abuse on the posttraumatic psychiatric symptoms in the children and adolescents with sexual abuse. Material(s) and Method(s): 137 children and adolescents were recruited by Seoul Sunflower Children Center, a nation-funded sexual violence victim protection center, from January 2009 to December 2013. We collected the demographic data of the victims and the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) from victims. We hypothesized victims' age, sex and IQ, and the characteristics of sexual abuse as the affecting factors of posttraumatic psychiatric symptoms. Descriptive analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were done for analyzing demographic data, TSCC scores, and psychiatric symptoms. Result(s): The victims' age and the characteristics of sexual abuse were significantly related to the traumatic distress of sexual abuse. R-square was 23 % for anxiety, 39 % for depression, 21 % for posttraumatic stress, and 37 % for dissociation on TSCC. Conclusion(s): This study suggests that significant affecting factors on posttraumatic psychiatric symptoms are victims' age, and type, frequency and duration of exposure and disclosure of sexual abuse in children and adolescents. We need to explore any psychiatric symptoms other than posttraumatic symptoms, and relations between pretraumatic and posttraumatic psychiatric symptoms through collecting larger samples.