Stephanie J, Dallam
Leadership Council for Mental Health, Justice, and the Media
David H. Gleaves
Leadership Council for Mental Health, Justice, and the Media and Texas
A&M University
Antonio Cepeda-Benito
Texas A&M University
Joyanna L. Silberg
Leadership Council for Mental Health, Justice, and the Media and Sheppard
Pratt Health System
Helena C. Kraemer
Stanford University School of Medicine
David Spiegel
Leadership Council for Mental Health, Justice, and the Media and Stanford
University School of Medicine
Psychological Bulletin Vol. 127, No.6, 715-733
B. Rind, P. Tromovitch, and R. Bauserman (1998) examined the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) by meta-analyzing studies of college students. The authors reported that
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effects "were neither pervasive nor typically intense" and that |
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"men reacted much less negatively than women" (p. 22) and |
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recommended value-neutral re-conceptualization of the CSA construct. |
The current analysis revealed numerous problems in that study that minimized CSA-adjustment relations, including
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use of a healthy sample, |
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an inclusive definition of CSA, |
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failure to correct for statistical attenuation, and |
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misreporting of original data. |
Rind et al.'s study's main conclusions were not supported by the original data. As such, attempts to use their study to argue that an individual has not been harmed by sexual abuse constitute a serious misapplication of its findings.
Stephanie J. Dallam, Science Directorate, Leadership Council for Mental Health, Justice, and the Media, Bala Cynwyd. Pennsylvania;
David H. Gleaves, Science Directorate, Leadership Council for Mental Health. Justice, and the Media and Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University;
Antonio Cepeda-Benito, Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University;
Joyanna L. Silberg, Science Directorate, Leadership Council for Mental Health, Justice, and the Media and Trauma Disorders Program, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore. Maryland;
Helena C. Kraemer, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine;
David Spiegel, Science Directorate, Leadership Council for Mental Health, Justice, and the Media and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Stephanie J. Dallam. P.O. Box 258, Spring Hill, Kansas 60683. Electronic mail may be sent to sjd.scout@worldnet.an.net