Mental health articles

sexual abuse from romantic/sexual partners Another type of sexual abuse that is more widely discussed in the literature on rape than in child sexual abuse is that of abuse by a romantic or sexual partner. Yet, it remains a significant problem for adolescents, as 7% of all females in Russell’s (1983) study were victims of […]

child sexual abuse from friends The focus of child sexual abuse is seldom on abuse by friends, perhaps because of the issue of how to separate normal sexual play among peers and abuse. Even though abuse by friends was one of the less prevalent types of abuse in Russell’s (1983) study, more than 4% of […]

child sexual abuse from acquaintances Sexual abuse by acquaintances is the single largest category of child sexual abuse, accounting for 16% to 50% of all abuse, depending on how this category is defined. Although acquaintance rape is now the subject of intensive investigation, the same cannot be said of acquaintance child sexual abuse. Indeed, although […]

Child sexual abuse from strangers One of the most frightening of all types of abuse is that by strangers. The fear, of course, is that children will be accosted by strangers in the children’s neighborhoods and will be abused, raped, and sometimes even murdered. The public seems to be most concerned about this type of […]

Underemphasis of extrafamilial child sexual abuse These analyses indicate that extrafamilial abuse is easily the most prevalent type of abuse, even though intrafamilial abuse is the abuse most often identified. Yet, while only approximately 5% of all committed child sexual abuse is by a biological father or stepfather and approximately 30% of committed abuse is […]

PREVALENCE OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE Several studies have attempted to determine the prevalence of child sexual abuse within specific populations. These studies are far different from incidence studies as they represent not only victims of child sexual abuse coming to the attention of authorities, but also those whose abuse was never reported and substantiated. As […]