The effects of forced sexual intercourse on white female adolescents

• Published in: Child abuse & neglect 1995-10, Vol.19 (10), p.1289-1301
• Main Authors: Miller, Brent C., Monson, Bruce H., Norton, Maria C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Anglo Americans; Attitude to Health; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child Abuse; Child Abuse, Sexual - psychology; Child Sexual Abuse; Childhood sexual abuse; Depression; Depression (Psychology); Depressive Disorder - psychology; Emotional Problems; Female; Females; Forced sexual intercourse; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health Services Needs and Demand; Humans; Internal-External Control; Late Adolescents; Locus of Control; Medical sciences; Multivariate Analysis; Predictive Value of Tests; Psychological adjustment; Psychology, Adolescent; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychosocial aspects; Psychosocial Factors; Rape; Rape - psychology; Sexual Abuse; Sexual Behavior; Sexual Intercourse; Sexuality; Surveys and Questionnaires; United States of America; Victimology; Well Being; Whites; Young women
• ISSN: 0145-2134; 1873-7757
• DOI: 10.1016/0145-2134(95)00081-I

In the 1987 National Survey of Children the question was asked: “Was there ever a time when you were forced to have sex against your will, or were you raped?” Among White females, aged 18–22, those who answered yes ( n = 41) and no ( n = 400) were compared on a number of social-psychological and sexual variables that might be thought of as outcomes affected by having had coercive sexual experience(s). Those who reported being forced to have sexual intercourse, compared to those who did not, had more permissive attitudes about 16–17-year-olds having intercourse and a younger age of first voluntary sexual intercourse themselves. They also had lower internal locus of control and higher depression scores, and they needed and received more psychological help than those not reporting forced sexual intercourse. Dividing the forced sexual intercourse group (FSI) into those reporting FSI before versus after their first date, and those whose FSI was before versus after age 12, yielded essentially the same findings. Even in the presence of multivariate control variables, FSI experience remained a significant predictor of age at first voluntary sexual intercourse, locus of control, depression, and perceived need for psychological help. These analyses of national survey data support the clinical perspective that forced sexual intercourse causes or exacerbates various sexual and psychological problems. En la Encuesta Nacional de los Niños la pregunta que se hizo fue: “Alguna vez fuiste forzado/a a tener relaciones sexuales contra tu deseo o fuiste violado/a? Entre la mujeres blancas de 18 a 22 años, aquellas que respondieron sí ( n = 41) y no ( n = 400) fueron comparadas en una serie de variables sexuales y psicosociales que pueden ser consideradas como consecuencias de haber tenido experiencia(s) sexual(es) coercitiva(s). Aquellas que habían informado de haber sido forzadas a tener relaciones sexuales o haver sido violadas, comparadas con las que no lo fueron, tienen actitudes más permisivas acerca de tener relaciones sexuales a los 16–17 años y ellas mismas tuvieron una relación sexual voluntaria a una edad más temprana. Las mujeres del grupo que habían sido forzadas a tener relaciones sexuales, tuvieron también un locus interno de control inferior, puntuaciones más altas en depresión y necesitaron y recibieron más ayuda psicológica que aquellas que no informaron de una relación sexual forzada. Dividiendo el grupo de mujeres que habían tenido una relación sexual forza