This study was an exploratory analysis of variables differentiating child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors who self-mutilate from those who do not. Women with histories of CSA (N = 84) were placed into two groups based on the presence or absence of self-mutilating behavior. A log-linear logit analysis was conducted to compare participants on several psychological, demographic, family-of-origin, and abuse-related variables. The model that best fit the data indicated that self-mutilators were more likely to have experienced physical or physiological abuse in their families of origin and have a history of eating disorders and currently were more depressed and dissociated.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Agresti, A. (1984). Analysis of ordinal categorical data. New York: John Wiley.
2.
Albach, F., & Everaerd, W. (1992). Posttraumatic stress symptoms in victims of childhood incest. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 57, 143-151.
3.
American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
4.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (text revision). Washington, DC: Author.
5.
Bach-y-Rita, G. (1974). Habitual violence and self mutilation. American Journal of Psychiatry, 131, 1018-1020.
6.
Bass, E., & Davis, L. (1988). The courage to heal: A guide for women survivors of child sexual abuse. New York: Harper and Row.
7.
Beck, A., & Steer, R. (1984). Internal consistencies of the original and revised Beck Depression Inventory. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 40, 1365-1367.
8.
Beck, A., Steer, R., & Garbin, M. (1988). Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation. Clinical Psychology Review, 8, 77-100.
9.
Beitchman, J., Zucker, K., Hood, J., DaCosta, G., Akman, D., & Cassavia, E. (1992). A review of the long-term effects of child sexual abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 16, 101-118.
10.
Bernstein, E., & Putnam, F. (1986). Development, reliability, and validity of a dissociation scale. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 174, 727-733.
11.
Bishop, Y., Fienberg, S., & Holland, P. (1975). Discrete multivariate analysis: Theory and practice. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
12.
Briere, J., & Runtz, M. (1986). Suicidal thought and behaviours in former sexual abuse victims. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 18, 413-423.
13.
Briere, J., & Runtz, M. (1988). Symptomatology associated with childhood sexual victimization in a non-clinical adult sample. Child Abuse and Neglect, 12, 51-59.
14.
Briere, J., & Zaidi, L. (1989). Sexual abuse histories and sequelae in female psychiatric emergency room patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 1602-1606.
15.
Brodsky, B., Cloitre, M., & Dulit, R. (1995). Relationship of dissociation to self-mutilation and childhood abuse in borderline personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 1788-1792.
16.
Carroll, J., Schaffer, C., Spensley, J., & Abramowitz, S. (1980). Family experiences of self-mutilating patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 852-853.
17.
Carroll, J., Schaffer, C., Spensley, J., & Abramowitz, S. (1981). Family antecedents of adult self-mutilators. International Journal of Family Psychiatry, 2, 147-161.
18.
Courtois, C. (1988). Healing the incest wound. New York: Norton.
19.
de Young, M. (1982a). Innocent seducer innocently seduced? The role of the child incest victim. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 11, 56-60.
20.
de Young, M. (1982b). Self injurious behavior in incest victims: A research note. Child Welfare, 61, 577-584.
21.
Ensick, B. (1992). Confusing realities: A study on child sexual abuse and psychiatric symptoms. Amsterdam: VU University Press.
22.
Finkelhor, D. (1980). Sex among siblings: A survey report on its prevalence, variety, and effects. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 9, 171-194.
23.
Freyd, J. (1996). Betrayal trauma. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
24.
Friedrich, W., Urquiza, A., & Beilke, R. (1986). Behavior problems in sexually abused young children. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 11, 47-57.
25.
Goldney, R., & Simpson, I. (1975). Female genital self-mutilation, dysorexia and the hysterical personality: The Caenis syndrome. Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 20, 435-441.
26.
Goodman, L. A. (1978). Analyzing qualitative/categorical data. Cambridge, MA: ABT Books.
27.
Greenspan, G., & Samuel, S. (1989). Self-cutting after rape. American Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 789-790.
28.
Grunebaum, H., & Klerman, G. (1967). Wrist slashing. American Journal of Psychiatry, 124, 527-534.
29.
Kahan, J., & Pattison, E. M. (1984). Proposal for a distinctive diagnosis: The deliberate self-harm syndrome (DSH). Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 14, 17-35.
30.
Kiecolt, K. J., & Nathan, L. E. (1985). Secondary analysis of survey data (Sage University Paper series on Quantitative Application in the Social Sciences, Series No. 07-053). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
31.
Knoke, D., & Burke, P. J. (1980). Log-linear models (Sage University Paper series on Quantitative Application in the Social Sciences, Series No. 07-020). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
32.
Marascuilo, L., & Busk, P. (1987). Loglinear models: A way to study main effects and interactions for multidimensional contingency tables with categorical data. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 34, 443-455.
33.
McCann, I., & Pearlman, L. (1990). Vicarious traumatization: A framework for understanding the psychological effects of working with victims. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 3, 131-149.
34.
Morrow, K. B., & Sorell, G. (1989). Factors affecting self-esteem, depression, and negative behaviors in sexually abused female adolescents. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51, 677-686.
35.
Pao, P. (1969). The syndrome of delicate self-cutting. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 42, 195-206.
36.
Pattison, E. M., & Kahan, J. (1983). The deliberate self-harm syndrome. American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 867-872.
37.
Ross, C., Joshi, S., & Currie, R. (1990). Dissociative experiences in the general population. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 1547-1552.
38.
Russell, D. E. H. (1983). The incidence and prevalence of intrafamilial and extrafamilial sexual abuse of female children. Child Abuse and Neglect, 7, 133-146.
39.
Russell, D. E. H. (1984). The prevalence and seriousness of incestuous abuse: Stepfathers vs. biological fathers. Child Abuse and Neglect, 8, 15-22.
40.
Scurfield, R. M. (1985). Post-trauma stress assessment and treatment: Overview and formulations. In C. R. Figley (Ed.), Trauma and its wake: The study and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (pp. 219-256). New York: Brunner/Mazel.
41.
Sedney, M. A., & Brooks, B. (1984). Factors associated with a history of childhood sexual experiences in a non-clinical female population. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 23, 215-218.
42.
Shapiro, S. (1987). Self-mutilation and self-blame in incest victims. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 41, 46-54.
43.
Simpson, C., & Porter, G. (1981). Self-mutilation in children and adolescents. Bulletin of the Menniger Clinic, 45, 428-438.
44.
Simpson, M. (1975). The phenomenology of self-mutilation in a general hospital setting. Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 20, 429-433.
45.
Simpson, M. (1977). Self-mutilation and the borderline syndrome. Dynamische Psychiatrie, 10, 42-48.
46.
Summit, R. (1983). The child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome. Child Abuse and Neglect, 7, 177-193.
47.
Tsai, M., Feldman-Summers, S., & Edgar, M. (1979). Childhood molestation: Variables related to differential impacts on psychosexual functioning in adult women. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88, 407-417.
48.
Turell, S. C., & Armsworth, M. W. (2000). Differentiating incest survivors who self-mutilate. Child Abuse and Neglect, 24, 237-249.
49.
Vincent, K. R. (1985). Manual for the diagnostic inventory of personality and symptoms. Richland, WA: Pacific Psychological.
50.
Vincent, K. R. (1987). Full battery codebook: A handbook of psychological test interpretation. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
51.
Vincent, K., & Duthie, B. (1986). Factor structure of DIPS in a private psychiatric hospital population. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 42, 312-314.
52.
Walsh, B., & Rosen, P. (1988). Self-mutilation: Theory, research and treatment. New York: Guilford.
53.
Waltzer, H. (1968). Depersonalization and self-destruction. American Journal of Psychiatry, 125, 399-401.
54.
Wheeler, B. R., & Walton, E. (1987). Personality disturbances of adult incest victims. Social Casework, 68, 597-602.
55.
Whitehead, P. C., Johnson, F. G., & Ferrence, R. (1973). Measuring the incidence of self-injury: Some methodological and design considerations. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 43, 142-148.
56.
Wise, M. (1989). Adult self-injury as a survival response in victim-survivors of childhood abuse. Journal of Chemical Dependency Treatment, 3, 185-201.
57.
Young, L. (1992). Sexual abuse and the problem of embodiment. Child Abuse and Neglect, 16, 89-100.
58.
Zweig-Frank, H., Paris, J., & Guzder, J. (1994). Psychological risk factors for dissociation and self-mutilation in female patients with borderline personality disorder. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 39, 259-264.
