Child sexual abuse committed by a parent (incest) is related to particularly severe physical and psychological symptoms across the life span. Incest is associated with low self-esteem, self-loathing, feelings of contamination, worthlessness, and helplessness, as well as somatization and low self-efficacy. A child's negative constructions often are attempts to derive some meaning that justifies the incest, such as, "it is because of my badness that it happens to me." Survival often involves voluntary or involuntary disconnection from self, others, and the environment, or compartmentalization of the traumatic experiences. Dissociation with survivors of child abuse, especially when the perpetrators are from within the child's caregiver system, can be accounted for by the concept of betrayal trauma. However, with few exceptions, little appears in the literature integrating dissociation, betrayal trauma, complex trauma, and incest for the purpose of treatment. Our purpose of this review to examine the relationship between trauma-related dissociation, betrayal trauma, and complex trauma, and how understanding these concepts and their relationship can inform the treatment of incest.
Keywords: Incest; betrayal trauma; child sexual abuse; complex trauma; dissociation.