Gender identification and sex role attribution in sexually abused adolescent females

Abstract

An exploratory study of the association between child sexual abuse and subsequent gender identification and sex role attribution was conducted with 93 adolescent females. Victims of intrafamilial sexual abuse with a history of psychotherapeutic treatment were compared with nonabused subjects with a history of treatment and nonabused control subjects with no treatment history. Measures of gender identity found that sexually abused and nonabused treatment groups differed significantly from the no-treatment controls. Distinct patterns of gender identification emerged for the sexually abused victims. Hypothesized differences in sex role attribution were not found. Potential directions for future research are proposed and implications and recommendations for treatment are discussed.