| Abstract: | A sample of 531 self-identitied adult and adolescent survivors of sexual abuse were sent or given a 686 item Post-Traumatic Stress Questionnaire. Each respondent described between 1-3 different sexually abusive experiences with different perpetrators, in detail, for a total of 1140 experiences. A series of statistical analyses examined the correlations and relationships between aspects of the abuse (including perceived severe impact, duration, frequency, type of abuse, use of force, age of onset) and scores on a variety of standardized instruments. Results of these analyses of the Impact of Events Scale, the Trauma Symptom Checklist-33, and the MMPI-PTSD scale revealed that the cognitive variable of perceived severity of impact accounted for the most variance in scores on the instruments. Other variables which influenced higher scores were greater number of abusers, greater intrusiveness of abuse with force, and greater intrusiveness of abuse without force. |
