Child sexual abuse

The enormous media interest in the frequency and effects of child sexual abuse (CSA) has been paralleled in the past year by significant advances in our empirical knowledge about this childhood risk factor for adult psychosocial problems. Progress has been made in the diagnostic procedures employed in CSA physical examinations, in our understanding of the link between CSA and subsequent psychiatric morbidity, and in our cognizance of the effects that trauma, such as CSA, may have on memory.