The Effects of Sexual Abuse on Children

Abstract

Data were collected at the Sexual Assault Center in Seattle on 369 sexually abused children and a community comparison sample of 318 not-abused children. Data describing the behavior of these children were collected from the child's parent and for the abused children from the social worker. Samples differed on a number of variables and these variables were used as control variables in the analysis. Results indicate that abused and not-abused children appear behaviorally different on a set of factors and clinical dimensions constructed from the parent-completed measure. Suggestions for future research are provided.