Transcript SEXUAL ABUSE HISTORY AND WOMEN’S SEXUAL BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES R.L. Schacht1, W.H.

SEXUAL ABUSE HISTORY AND WOMEN’S SEXUAL BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES
R.L. Schacht1, W.H. George1, & J.R. Heiman2
1University
of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; 2Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
BACKGROUND
• Sexual abuse (SA) in childhood and adulthood has been linked to differences in
women’s sexual behavior. Women with SA histories are at much higher risk for
contracting STIs than are their non-abused counterparts, in part because they tend
to have greater numbers of lifetime partners (Koenig & Clark, 2003). SA has also
been associated with sexual dysfunction in some women (Heiman & HeardDavison, 2003).
• Researchers have characterized these findings as evidence of an “approach” and
“avoid” pattern of sexual behavior (Noll, Trickett, & Putnam, 2003). Evidence of
these disparate sexual behavior patterns and the associations between SA and
problematic sexual outcomes underscore the importance of understanding the
sexual behavior of SA women.
• We sought to further examine these differences by comparing SA and non-SA
women.
METHOD
• Participants
• 382 single, heterosexual women
• Volunteers for study of alcohol intoxication, psychophysiological sexual arousal,
and sexual decision-making
• Social, non-problem drinkers by self-report
• 21-35 years old (M = 25 ± 4)
• 74% European American, 13% multi-racial/other, 7% Latina, 6% African American,
6% Asian American
• 39% post-secondary students
• 45% currently had a sex partner; 66% were sexually active in the past month
• Variables
• Sexual abuse history in childhood or adulthood (Finkelhor, 1979; Koss & Oros,
1982)
• 51% no abuse
• 20% adult abuse only
• 16% adult and child abuse
• 13% child abuse only
• Sexual behavior history
• Age at first masturbation
• Age at first consensual intercourse
• Number of lifetime sexual partners (opposite- and same-sex)
• Frequency of erotica use
• Frequency of masturbation
• Sexual Opinion Survey (Fisher, 1998)
• Scores range from 0 (most erotophobic) to 126 (most erotophilic)
• Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (Simpson, 1998)
• High scores indicate more positive attitudes towards sex outside of a
committed relationship
RESULTS
Table 1. Descriptive statistics by group.
Abuse History1
• Data were analyzed using ANOVA. Bonferroni post
hoc tests were used to evaluate group contrasts.
Means and SDs are summarized in Table 1.
No SA
(N = 190)
CSA only
(N = 49)
ASA only
(N = 76)
CSA +
ASA (N = 60)
M
(SD)
M
(SD)
M
(SD)
M
(SD)
Age at first
masturbation
(years)
14.8
(4.7)
13.4
(5.7)
14.2
(4.9)
14.0
(5.6)
Age at first
intercourse
(years)
17.5a
(2.8)
15.6b
(2.2)
16.5b
(2.0)
15.5b
(2.3)
Number of
opposite-sex
partners2
9.9a
(11.6)
16.2b*
(14.5)
17.0b (14.3)
25.0c
(24.6)
Number of
same-sex
partners2
.8a
(2.1)
2.2b
(5.3)
1.1a
(1.8)
2.0b
(3.3)
Frequency of
erotica use3
1.3a
(1.2)
1.4a
(1.3)
1.5a
(1.1)
1.8b
(1.3)
• There was a main effect of abuse history for erotica
use (F[3, 366]) = 2.9; p = .034). CSA+ASA women
reported more erotica use than did non-SA and ASAand CSA-only women.
Frequency of
masturbation3
3.9
(1.9)
4.2
(1.9)
4.3
(1.8)
4.3
(1.8)
SOS score
87.1
(16.1)
84.2
(16.7)
89.9
(16.3)
85.3
(17.8)
• There were no group differences in scores on the
sexual attitude measures, age at first masturbation, or
current frequency of masturbation.
SOI score
5.4
(2.3)
5.0
(2.1)
5.6
(2.2)
5.9
(2.0)
• There was a main effect of abuse history for age at
first consensual intercourse (F[3, 364] = 14.01; p <
.001). Non-SA women reported being older than did
women in the three SA groups.
• There was a main effect of abuse history for number
of opposite-sex partners (F[3, 360] = 15.70; p < .001).
Non-SA women reported smaller numbers of
opposite-sex partners than did women in the three
SA groups. CSA+ASA women reported more
partners than did CSA- and ASA-only women.
• There was a main effect of abuse history for number
of same-sex partners (F[3, 366] = 4.7, p = .003). CSAonly and CSA+ASA women reported more same-sex
partners than did all other groups.
CONCLUSIONS
1Superscripts
denote differences significant at p < .05.
*p = .07
2Number of partners was capped at 100. Subjects’ age was covaried.
3Values: 1 = never, 2 = 1x/yr, 3 = <1x/yr but >1x/mo, 4 = 1x/mo, 5 = 2-3x/mo, 6 = 1x/wk, 7 =
<1/wk but not daily, 8 = daily
• Relative to non-SA women, SA women reported engaging in earlier consensual sexual behavior with more partners, whereas the groups
did not differ on masturbation and whether they viewed sexuality negatively or positively. SA and non-SA women did not differ in their
attitudes towards or how often they engaged in sex without emotional commitment.
• SA women may be more susceptible than their non-SA counterparts to relationship instability, and this relationship instability may
contribute to SA women’s larger numbers of lifetime partners.
• The generalizability of these findings may be limited, as women who volunteer for research involving genital measures of sexual response
may be different from those who do not.
• Future work should evaluate the quality, in addition to the quantity, of SA women’s sexual relationships.
Supported by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Grant #AA13565 (William H. George, P.I.) Contact: [email protected]. Annual meeting of the International Academy of Sex Research,Vancouver, BC, August 2007.