Childhood abuse and subsequent sexual assault among female inpatients

Abstract

The relationship between a history of childhood abuse and subsequent sexual assault was assessed among 409 consecutive female inpatient admissions. A total of 45% of the sample reported a history of some form of childhood abuse and 22% reported at least one adulthood sexual assault. A hierarchical logistic regression indicated that, after controlling for sociodemographic and diagnostic variables, women with a history of childhood abuse were 3.1 times more likely to have experienced an adult sexual assault compared to those without abuse. There was a higher prevalence of adult sexual assault among women reporting only physical abuse or physical and sexual abuse than those reporting only sexual abuse, indicating the significance of physical abuse as a potential risk factor for adult sexual assault.