Sexual Abuse and Its Relationship to Later Sexual Satisfaction, Marital Status, Religion, and Attitudes

Abstract

In a large, nationally representative survey of 2,626 adult Americans, men and women who reported a history of childhood sexual abuse involving penetration were also more likely to report a disrupted marriage, dissatisfaction in their sexual relationship, and a tendency to be a religious nonpractitioner. Victims of abuse were also more likely to have read or talked about the problem recently and tended to see it as a more common occurrence than nonvictims. These findings are generally consistent with other studies on the long-term impact of abuse and add to the sense of this as a social problem with important social and psychological ramifications.