Long-term mental health consequences of female- versus male-perpetrated child sexual abuse

Jelena Gerke; Thomas Gfrörer; Frederike-Kristina Mattstedt; Ulrike Hoffmann; Jörg M Fegert; Miriam Rassenhofer

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106240

Long-term mental health consequences of female- versus male-perpetrated child sexual abuse

Child Abuse Negl. 2023 Sep:143:106240. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106240. Epub 2023 May 24.

Authors

Jelena Gerke¹, Thomas Gfrörer², Frederike-Kristina Mattstedt³, Ulrike Hoffmann³, Jörg M Fegert⁴, Miriam Rassenhofer⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychotherapy, University Hospital Ulm, Germany. Electronic address: jelena.gerke@uniklinik-ulm.de.
² Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
³ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychotherapy, University Hospital Ulm, Germany.
⁴ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychotherapy, University Hospital Ulm, Germany; Center for Child Protection in Medicine in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

PMID: 37235997
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106240

Abstract

Background: Research on child sexual abuse increasingly focuses on sexually offending females; however, there is a lack of research that focuses on the individuals being affected. Studies have suggested that the consequences for those affected by sexually offending males and females are comparable.

Objective: The aim is to compare mental health consequences of sexual abuse perpetrated by women versus men in quantity and type.

Participants and setting: Data was anonymously retrieved from the German-wide contact point "help line sexual abuse" from 2016 to 2021. Details of abuse cases, gender of the offending individuals, and reported mental disorders of the person affected were analyzed. The sample consisted of N = 3351 callers with experiences of child sexual abuse.

Method: The relationship between gender of the perpetrating person and mental disorders of the victimized person was computed using logistic regression models. To account for rare events data, Firth's logistics regression model was used.

Results: The consequences were similar in quantity, albeit different in type. Callers with experiences of female-perpetrated abuse were more likely to report suicidality, non-suicidal self-injury behavior, personality disorders, dissociative identity disorders, alcohol/ drug addiction, and schizophrenia, while people with experiences of male-perpetrated abuse rather reported post-traumatic stress disorder, affective disorders, anxiety disorders, dissociative disorders, eating disorders, externalized disorders, and psychosomatic disorders.

Conclusions: The differences may be due to stigmatization leading to dysfunctional coping mechanisms. Societal gender stereotypes must be reduced, especially within the professional helping system to ensure support for people who have experienced sexual abuse, regardless of gender.

Keywords: Child sexual abuse; Female perpetrator; Female-perpetrated child sexual abuse; Gender; Mental health consequences.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Anxiety Disorders
Child
Child Abuse*
Child Abuse, Sexual* / psychology
Female
Humans
Male
Mental Health
Sexual Behavior / psychology