SEXUAL ABUSE HISTORY AND WOMEN’S SEXUAL BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES

1. SEXUAL ABUSE HISTORY AND WOMEN’S SEXUAL BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES R.L. Schacht1, W.H. George1, & J.R. Heiman2 1University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; 2Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA • BACKGROUND • Sexual abuse (SA) in childhood and adulthood has been linked to differences in women’s sexual behavior. Women with SA histories are at much higher risk for contracting STIs than are their non-abused counterparts, in part because they tend to have greater numbers of lifetime partners (Koenig & Clark, 2003). SA has also been associated with sexual dysfunction in some women (Heiman & Heard-Davison, 2003). • Researchers have characterized these findings as evidence of an “approach” and “avoid” pattern of sexual behavior (Noll, Trickett, & Putnam, 2003). Evidence of these disparate sexual behavior patterns and the associations between SA and problematic sexual outcomes underscore the importance of understanding the sexual behavior of SA women. • We sought to further examine these differences by comparing SA and non-SA women. Table 1. Descriptive statistics by group. • RESULTS • Data were analyzed using ANOVA. Bonferroni post hoc tests were used to evaluate group contrasts. Means and SDs are summarized in Table 1. • There was a main effect of abuse history for age at first consensual intercourse (F[3, 364] = 14.01; p < .001). Non-SA women reported being older than did women in the three SA groups. • There was a main effect of abuse history for number of opposite-sex partners (F[3, 360] = 15.70; p < .001). Non-SA women reported smaller numbers of opposite-sex partners than did women in the three SA groups. CSA+ASA women reported more partners than did CSA- and ASA-only women. • There was a main effect of abuse history for number of same-sex partners (F[3, 366] = 4.7, p = .003). CSA-only and CSA+ASA women reported more same-sex partners than did all other groups. • There was a main effect of abuse history for erotica use (F[3, 366]) = 2.9; p = .034). CSA+ASA women reported more erotica use than did non-SA and ASA- and CSA-only women. • There were no group differences in scores on the sexual attitude measures, age at first masturbation, or current frequency of masturbation. • METHOD • Participants • 382 single, heterosexual women • Volunteers for study of alcohol intoxication, psychophysiological sexual arousal, and sexual decision-making • Social, non-problem drinkers by self-report • 21-35 years old (M = 25 ± 4) • 74% European American, 13% multi-racial/other, 7% Latina, 6% African American, 6% Asian American • 39% post-secondary students • 45% currently had a sex partner; 66% were sexually active in the past month • Variables • Sexual abuse history in childhood or adulthood (Finkelhor, 1979; Koss & Oros, 1982) • 51% no abuse • 20% adult abuse only • 16% adult and child abuse • 13% child abuse only • • Sexual behavior history • Age at first masturbation • Age at first consensual intercourse • Number of lifetime sexual partners (opposite- and same-sex) • Frequency of erotica use • Frequency of masturbation • Sexual Opinion Survey (Fisher, 1998) • Scores range from 0 (most erotophobic) to 126 (most erotophilic) • Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (Simpson, 1998) • High scores indicate more positive attitudes towards sex outside of a committed relationship 1Superscripts denote differences significant at p < .05. *p = .07 2Number of partners was capped at 100. Subjects’ age was covaried. 3Values: 1 = never, 2 = 1x/yr, 3 = <1x/yr but >1x/mo, 4 = 1x/mo, 5 = 2-3x/mo, 6 = 1x/wk, 7 = <1/wk but not daily, 8 = daily • CONCLUSIONS • Relative to non-SA women, SA women reported engaging in earlier consensual sexual behavior with more partners, whereas the groups did not differ on masturbation and whether they viewed sexuality negatively or positively. SA and non-SA women did not differ in their attitudes towards or how often they engaged in sex without emotional commitment. • SA women may be more susceptible than their non-SA counterparts to relationship instability, and this relationship instability may contribute to SA women’s larger numbers of lifetime partners. • The generalizability of these findings may be limited, as women who volunteer for research involving genital measures of sexual response may be different from those who do not. • Future work should evaluate the quality, in addition to the quantity, of SA women’s sexual relationships. Supported by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Grant #AA13565 (William H. George, P.I.) Contact: rschacht@u.washington.edu. Annual meeting of the International Academy of Sex Research, Vancouver, BC, August 2007.