A
Meta-Analytic Review of Findings from National Samples on Psychological
Correlates of Child Sexual Abuse
Bruce
Rind [*] Philip
Tromovitch The
Journal of Sex Research, Vol. 34, No.3, 1997 pp. 237 - 255 |
AbstractIn response to the availability of a growing literature on the psychological correlates of child sexual abuse (CSA), numerous researchers have conducted literature reviews of these correlates. These reviewers have generally reported that CSA is associated with a wide variety of adjustment problems, and many have additionally implied or concluded that, in the population of persons with CSA experiences,
However, with few exceptions, these reviewers have included in their reviews mostly studies using clinical and legal samples; these samples cannot be assumed to be representative of the general population. To evaluate the implications and conclusions of these reviewers, we conducted a literature review of seven studies using national probability samples, which are more appropriate for making population inferences. We
found that, contrary to the implications and conclusions contained in
previous literature reviews that were focused on biased samples, in the general
population. CSA is not associated with pervasive harm and that harm, when it
occurs, is not typically intense. [*] Correspondence should be sent to Bruce Rind, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122. E. mail; rind@vm.temple.edu. |