Citation

Weaver TL, Clum GA. J. Trauma. Stress 1996; 9(4): 783-803.

Affiliation

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg 24061, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8902746

Abstract

Lifetime sexual and physical victimization histories were examined within a shelter and outpatient sample of battered women (N = 43). Rates of prior victimization were very high with 71% of women reporting a childhood experience of physical abuse and 53% of women reporting a childhood experience of sexual abuse. These experiences were then examined as predictors of intra- and interpersonal functioning. Difficulties with identity development, low self-worth, borderline personality characteristics, and (at the trend level) difficulties with intimacy, received some support as long-term outcomes associated with reports of chronic experiences of childhood physical abuse. These findings provide some empirical support for the theorized relationship between childhood abuse and difficulties in the domains of intra- and interpersonal functioning.

Language: en