The experience of childhood sexual abuse: An exploratory description of psychological and adaptive functioning in Canadian men

Abstract

Background: Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) affects a number of men yet knowledge gaps remain around comprehensively describing psychological and adaptive outcomes for this population.

Objective: Examine how a Canadian sample of men with and without CSA histories compares on broader areas of psychological and adaptive functioning.

Participants and setting: This exploratory study included 109 adult men aged 25-60 years who were grouped according to whether they experienced CSA (n = 69) or not (n = 40). Participants were recruited from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Method: Using a multi-method approach, we conducted an exploratory and comprehensive examination of how CSA contributes to various areas of psychological (e.g., depression, anxiety, stress, dissociation, anger, PTSD) and adaptive functioning (e.g., friendship quality, employment) using self-report and clinician-administered measures.

Results: CSA men were an average of 8.5 years old at abuse onset. Most (62.3 %) had disclosed their CSA experience, waiting an average of 13.6 years before disclosure. After controlling for covariates (i.e., other types of maltreatment, non-maltreatment adversities, education, income), results indicated a significant association between CSA and men's psychological functioning, but not their adaptive functioning.

Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of broadening our understanding of how the experience of CSA, controlling for important covariates, can contribute to the well-being of men in order to better respond to their psychological needs.

Keywords: Adaptive functioning; Child sexual abuse; Men; Mental health; Psychological outcomes.