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RESEARCH
The majority of children and adolescents engaging in problematic sexual behaviors have histories of adverse childhood experiences such as abuse, neglect, maltreatment, or exposure to violence. Given this understanding, Dillard and colleagues explored two questions related to this population:
- Is there an association between certain types of childhood abuse disclosure and disclosures of problematic sexual behaviors (PSB)
- Do certain disclosures increase the likelihood of significant trauma symptoms associated with sexual concerns.
To explore these questions, 950 youth from a mid-west Child Advocacy Center were engaged in this study. The ages ranged from 3-18 with an average age of 9.43 years, 74% were female, 64% were white, 25% identified as Black and the remaining children comprised of the “Other” race category.
The authors found that younger children were more likely to present with PSB. The authors point out that there are many reasons why older children and youth may be less likely to disclose PSB (e.g., they may understand better that the behaviors are not socially acceptable and fear consequences or they may not consider previous PSB relevant within the forensic interview). Of the 99 children who disclosed PSB, 88 were under the age of 12 years.
Children who disclosed exposure to pornography were significantly more likely to disclose engaging in PSB. This echoes prior research which showed that early exposure to pornography is a risk factor for later illegal sexual behavior. On the other hand, children who disclosed fondling (offender to victim) were less likely to also disclose other forms of PSB.
The researchers also found that children exposed to pornography at a younger age were more likely to reach the threshold of clinically significant trauma. This may be in part because the parent completed the questionnaires. Older children and youth who experienced physical abuse were more likely to be associated with clinically significant trauma. PSB disclosure was not associated with clinically significant sexual concerns trauma symptoms. The authors suggest that this externalizing of behaviors may be a way to cope with their own trauma – which won’t emerge as long as the externalizing behaviors continue.
IMPLICATIONS FOR PROFESSIONALS
It can easy for professionals to overlook the profound impact of sexually explicit media, whether viewed on porn sites or in social media. The complexion of sexually explicit media (SEM) continues to change rapidly and dramatically both in terms of easier access and increasing violence. The most dramatic change in access was the migration of pornography away from collections of VHS tapes and DVDs to specialized websites (“tube sites”). But equally impactful is the changing nature of pornography to increased violence associated with sex. Professionals must change their lines of inquiry accordingly. As difficult as it can be to keep up with the changing landscape of childhood, this study shows that children and adolescents are willing to disclose their behaviors and experiences under the right conditions and work to process them.
IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FIELD
This study, which took place with children referred to a Child Advocacy Center of concerns about abuse, illustrates the deep connection between trauma and problematic sexual behavior. Child Advocacy Centers often serve families where abuse has occurred, but has not necessarily been processed in the legal system. This provides an excellent opportunity to learn from children and adolescents about their experiences more broadly.
Although not explicitly stated, the most important contribution of this study may be that it demonstrates how important parents and other caregivers can be in preventing and identifying a wide range of abuse, including PSB, as well as helping these most vulnerable children in the healing process.
CITATION:
Dillard, R., Maguire-Jack, K., Showalter, K., Wolf, K. G., & Letson, M. M. (2019). Abuse disclosures of youth with problem sexualized behaviors and trauma symptomology. Child Abuse & Neglect, 88, 201-211.
ABSTRACT:
Background
The majority of youth with problem sexualized behaviors (PSB) have substantiated experiences of abuse or exposures to violence (Silovsky & Niec, 2002). Little is known about specific abuse experiences that may differentiate youth with PSB from those without. Few studies have examined the types of abuse associated with post-traumatic stress symptomology.
Objective
The current study explored two research questions: (1) Do children with PSB differ from children without PSB in terms of their abuse disclosures?; and (2) Are the types of abuse disclosed associated with the child’s scores on a post-traumatic stress measure?.
Participants & setting
Data were analyzed for youth (N = 950) ages 3–18 years who completed a clinical assessment at a child advocacy center in the Midwest during the 2015 calendar year.
Methods
Youth completed assessments that included a forensic interview and either the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC) for children ages 3–10 years, or the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) for children ages 11–16 years. Bivariate logistic regression was used to answer the research questions.
Results
Findings indicated that youths who disclosed offender to victim fondling were less likely to disclose PSB (OR = 0.460, p = .026), and children exposed to pornography were more likely to disclose PSB (OR = 3.252, p = .001). Additionally, youth who disclosed physical abuse (OR = 1.678, p = .001) or victim to offender sexual contact (OR = 2.242, p = .003) had higher odds of clinically significant trauma scores.
Conclusions
Implications for practitioners and future research directions are discussed.
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