Sexual abuse in childhood and deliberate self-harm

Abstract

Objective: The authors investigated the association between sexual abuse in childhood and subsequent incidents ofdeliberate self-harm in women. Method: A random community sample of women (N=252) that reported having been sexually abused as children was interviewed and compared to a similarly sized group (N=225) that did not report abuse. The subgroup of women sexually abused as children who reported subsequent incidents ofdeliberate self-harm was then contrasted with abused women who did not report self-harm. Results: There was a clear statistical association between sexual abuse in childhood and self-harm that was most marked in those subjected to more intrusive and more frequent abuse. Self-harm was also associated with major interpersonal problems in the subject’s family of origin and with be-coming involved in further abusive relationships as an adult. Conclusions: Sexual abuse in childhood is associated with later incidents ofdeliberate self-harm and may well be an etiologic f actor in its development. (AmJ Psychiatry 1995; 152:1336-1342) I has often been suggested that being exposed to sex-ual abuse in childhood may be linked to self-damag