Behavioral Characteristics of Child Victims of Sexual Abuse: A Comparison Study

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Abstract
Assessed the behavioral characteristics of 17 child victims of sexual abuse and a matched group of 17 nonabused, nonreferred community children. The two groups were matched on age, sex, socioeconomic level, and child's living situation. Measures included both global and specific indices of internalizing problems (e.g., depression, fearfulness, social withdrawal) as well as externalizing problems (e.g., aggression, sexual acting out) and utilized caretaker and self-report questionnaires. Significant differences between sexually abused children and nonabused, nonreferred children from the community were found on self-report measures of depression and caretaker reports of externalizing and internalizing problems. These findings suggest that sexual abuse has a negative effect on the functioning of children, which cannot be accounted for by the specific living situation or socioeconomic environment of the child.

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