sexual abuse

This study in the National Institute on Drug Abuse's web site reports that women who were sexually abused as children are roughly 3 times more likely to develop drug or alcohol addictions as adults. They were also roughly twice as likely to develop mental disorders such as depression and general anxiety disorder. Originally published in the Archives of General Psychiatry 57(10):953-959, 2000.

Link: http://www.nida.nih.gov/NIDA_Notes/NNVol17N1/Childhood.html

SECASA is based in Australia and on this page they present a good overview of child sexual abuse and the recovery process for adult survivors.

Link: http://www.secasa.com.au/index.php/workers/50/133

This article appears on the Australian Institute of Family Studies; it presents an overview of the effects childhood sexual abuse has on adult survivors. Among the issues it reports are alcoholism, intimacy, self-esteem and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It's a good overview and worth the time for partners of survivors to read.

Link: http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/issues/issues9/issues9.html

This is the site for Jim Hopper, PhD., a researcher, instructor and therapist who specializes in child abuse. One of his pages addresses resources for partners, spouses and friends of adult survivors. His site has a lot of good, useful information.

Link: http://www.jimhopper.com/abstats/#res2

This site has some good resources for partners about PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder), suicide and other issues. They also host an Yahoo email list/group for partners of survivors.

Link: www.geocities.com/hotsprings/2656/

The Support for Partners site is focused on providing some support for partners of those who have been sexually abused as children, providing resources to develop skills that help partners in their relationships, and providing information about abuse and its effects.

Link: www.supportforpartners.org

This foundation's cause is to educate the public about sexual abuse and its effects, particularly it's relationship to physical and mental disease.

link: http://www.stopsexualabusenow.org/

Author Meredith Maran wrote this article for Brides magazine in 1987. It's more from the survivor's point of view, and it gives an idea of how relationships are affected by sexual abuse.

Link: www.meredithmaran.com/mag_bride_abused.htm