Citation

Niederberger JM. Child Abuse Negl. 2002; 26(1): 55-71.

Affiliation

Pedagogical Institute of the University of Zürich, Switzerland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11860163

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Little is known about the long-term consequences of "soft" perpetrator strategies. The purpose of the present study is to assess the consequences of love-bargaining strategies compared to those involving force. METHOD: A representative sample of 980 women, aged 20 to 40 years, in the German-speaking part of Switzerland was asked questions regarding psychosomatic well-being, sexual actions, and perpetrator strategies, as well as motivations for tolerating long periods of abuse. The answers regarding strategies were factor analyzed. The effect on psychosomatic well-being was determined by means of stepwise regression analysis and correlation analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of child sexual abuse (CSA) was 39.8% overall and 14.7% for severe abuse. Using the three variables love-bargaining strategy, self-blaming, and need for affection, an adjusted R2 of .44 was reached in the 3rd step as a dependent variable with a General Symptomatic Index (GSI) calculated from an abbreviated version of the SCL-90-R. The first of the three variables mentioned was by far the most influential. Force was not included in the equation but was closely correlated on a bivariate level with the SCL-90 partial scale "anxiety." CONCLUSIONS: The consequences of CSA produced by the use of soft strategies have been underestimated in the past.

Language: en