Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T03:37:07.611Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Unwanted sexual experiences during childhood: Australian continuum data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Abstract

In order to place child sexual abuse in the broader conceptual framework of unwanted sexual experiences in childhood, this study explores a continuum of intrusive behaviours as reported in questionnaire data gathered from 345 first and second year Australian university students. The data provide evidence which is supportive of other findings on the nature and extent of child sexual abuse for females and males, including age of occurrence, identity of perpetrators, most commonly occurring behaviours, and gender differences in disclosure and prevalence.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aizenmann, M., Kelley, G. 1988, ‘The incidence of violence and acquaintance rape in dating relationships among college men and women’, Journal of College Student Development, 29.Google Scholar
Amick, A.E., Calhoun, K.S. 1987, ‘Resistance to sexual aggression: Personality, situational and attitudinal factors’, Archives of Sexual Behaviour, 16.Google Scholar
Baker, A., Duncan, S. 1983, ‘Child sexual abuse: A study of prevalence in Great Britain’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 9.Google Scholar
Beitchman, J., Zucker, K., Hood, J., daCosta, G., Akman, D., Cassavia, A. 1992, ‘A review of the long-term effects of child sexual abuse’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 16.Google Scholar
Browne, A., Finkelhor, D. 1986, ‘Impact of child sexual abuse: A review of the research’, Psychological Bulletin, 99.Google Scholar
Christopher, F.C. 1988, ‘An initial investigation into a continuum of premarital sexual pressure’, Journal of Sex Research, 25.Google Scholar
DiVasto, P.V., Kaufman, A., Rosner, L., Jackson, R., Christy, J., Pearson, S., Burgett, T. 1984, ‘The prevalence of sexually stressful events among females in the general population’, Archives of Sexual Behaviour, 13.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, N., Owens, R., Dewey, M. 1987, ‘Attitudes of health professionals to child sexual abuse and incest’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 11.Google Scholar
Finkelhor, D. 1979, ‘Sexually victimised children’, The Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Finkelhor, D. 1984, ‘Child sexual abuse: New theory and research’. The Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Finkelhor, D. 1990, ‘Early and long-term effects of child sexual abuse: an update’, Professional Psychology–Research and Practice, 21.Google Scholar
Fritz, O., Stall, K., Wagner, N. 1981, ‘A comparison of males and females who were sexually molested as children’, Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 7.Google Scholar
Fromuth, M. 1986, ‘The relationship of childhood sexual abuse with later psychological and sexual adjustment in a sample of college women’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 10.Google Scholar
Fromuth, M., Burkhart, B. 1989, ‘Long-term psychological correlates of childhood sexual abuse in two samples of college men’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 13.Google Scholar
Genuis, M., Thomlison, B., Bagley, C. 1991, ‘Male victims of child sexual abuse: A brief review of pertinent findings’, Journal of Child and Youth Care, 2.Google Scholar
Gidycz, C., Coble, C., Latham, L., Layman, M. 1993, ‘Sexual assault experience in adulthood and prior victimisation experiences: A prospective analysis’, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 17.Google Scholar
Goldman, J. 1993, ‘Children's sexual cognition and its implications for children's court testimony in child sexual abuse cases’, Australian Journal of Marriage and Family, 13.Google Scholar
Goldman, R., Goldman, J. 1988a, ‘The prevalence and nature of child sexual abuse in Australia’, Australian Journal of Sex, Marriage and the Family, 9.Google Scholar
Goldman, R., Goldman, J. 1988b, Show me yours: Understanding children's sexuality. Ringwood, Penguin.Google Scholar
James, D. 1988, ‘The incidence and impact of negative sexual experiences on youth’, Youth Studies Bulletin, 7.Google Scholar
Kaufman, A., DiVasto, P., Jackson, R., Voorhees, D., Christy, J. 1980, ‘Male rape victims: Non-institutionalised assault’, American Journal of Psychiatry, 137.Google Scholar
Kilpatrick, A. 1986, ‘Some correlates of women's childhood sexual experiences: A retrospective study’, Journal of Sex Research, 22.Google Scholar
Korman, S.K., Leslie, G.R. 1982, ‘The relationship of feminine ideology and date expense sharing to perceptions of sexual aggression in dating’, Journal of Sex Research, 18.Google Scholar
Mannarino, A., Cohen, J. 1986, ‘A clinical-demographic study of sexually abused children’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 10.Google Scholar
Miller, R., Johnson, A., Johnson, J. 1991, ‘Assessing the prevalence of unwanted childhood sexual experiences’, Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 4.Google Scholar
Mims, F., Chang, A. 1984, ‘Unwanted sexual experiences of young women’, Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Service, 22.Google ScholarPubMed
Muehlenhard, C., Linton, M.A. 1987, ‘Date rape and sexual aggression in dating situations: Incidence and risk factors’, Journal of Counseling Psychology, 34.Google Scholar
Padgitt, S., Padgitt, J. 1986, ‘Cognitive structure of sexual harassment: Implications for university policy’, Journal of College Student Personnel, 27.Google Scholar
Parrot, A. 1989, ‘Acquaintance rape among adolescents: Identifying risk groups and intervention strategies’, Social Work and Human Sexuality, 8.Google Scholar
Patton, W., Mannison, M. September, 1993, ‘Women's unwanted sexual experiences throughout life: A process of learning’, presented at the Australian Psychology Society Conference, Gold Coast, Australia.Google Scholar
Peters, S., Wyatt, G., Finkelhor, D. 1986, ‘Prevalence’ in A sourcebook on child sexual abuse, ed Finkelhor, D., Beverly Hills: Sage.Google Scholar
Pierce, R., Pierce, L. 1985, ‘The sexually abused child: the comparison of male and female victims’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 9.Google Scholar
Rapaport, K., Burkhart, B. 1984, ‘Personality and attitude characteristics of sexually coercive college males’, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93.Google Scholar
Reinhart, M. 1987, ‘Sexually abused boys’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 11.Google Scholar
Rogers, C., Terry, T. 1984, ‘Clinical interventions with boy victims of sexual abuse’ in Victims of sexual aggression: Treatment of women, children, and men, eds Stuart, I. R. & Greer, J. O., Van Nostrand, New York.Google Scholar
Russell, D.E. 1983, ‘The incidence and prevalence of intrafamilial and extrafamilial sexual abuse of female children’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 7.Google Scholar
Sedney, M. A., Brooks, B. 1984, ‘Factors associated with a history of childhood sexual experience in a nonclinical female population’, Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 23.Google Scholar
Stanko, E. 1985, Intimate Intrusions: Women's experience of male violence, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.Google Scholar
Stevenson, M.R., Gajarsky, W.M. 1992, ‘Unwanted childhood sexual experiences relate to later victimisation and male perpetration’, Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 4.Google Scholar
Watkins, B., Bentovim, A. 1992, ‘The sexual abuse of male children and adolescents: A review of research’, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33.Google Scholar
Wyatt, G. 1985, ‘The sexual abuse of Afro-American and white American women in childhood’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 7.Google Scholar
Wyatt, G., Peters, S. 1986, ‘Issues in the definition of child sexual abuse in prevalence research’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 19.Google ScholarPubMed
Wyatt, G., Guthrie, D., Notgrass, C.M. 1992, ‘Differential effects of women's sexual abuse and women's subsequent sexual revictimisation’. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60.Google Scholar