Revisiting the link between childhood sexual abuse and adult sexual aggression

Childhood maltreatment poses a risk factor for adult sexual aggression among men.

Efforts were made to examine links between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and sexual aggression after controlling variance associated with other forms of abuse.

This sample was comprised of men (n = 489) who completed a national survey regarding their history of possible abuse and/or sexual aggression.

Maltreatment indices included CSA, parental and sibling physical abuse, exposure to domestic violence, peer bullying, and family emotional abuse. Self-report indicators of sexual frotteurism, coercion and rape were provided by the Sexual Experiences Survey-Short Form Perpetration.

CSA links with the criterion indicators were relatively stronger (r = 0.36, d = 0.65, p <  .001) than those found for non-sexual forms of abuse. CSA accounted for unshared variance in sexual aggression with these effects magnified by the addition of parental physical abuse (d = 2.1) or exposure to domestic violence (d = 2.2). The relative risks of prior acts of rape were elevated by CSA (RR = 4.39, p <  .001), parental physical abuse (RR = 3.85, p < 0.001), exposure to domestic violence (RR = 3.81, p <  .001), or sibling physical abuse (RR = 2.56, p = 0.007). These risks of completed rape were higher as well among respondents polyvictimized by two (RR = 4.92, p <  .001) or more (RR = 8.94, p < 0.001) forms of abuse.

Multiple forms of child maltreatment, particularly CSA, were strongly associated with adult sexual aggression in this sample of men from the general population.