A descriptive study of the relationship between child sexual abuse and frequency, duration, and proximity of psychological trauma developed among college level female survivors of child sexual abuse, 1996

The purpose of this study was to explore how frequency and duration of sexual abuse and proximity of the relationship between the perpetrator and the college female survivor of childhood sexual abuse is related to psychological trauma. The subjects of this study were 30 college females from various universities. The students surveyed are survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The researcher utilized a survey research design consisting of a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was given by the researcher to female students at different colleges/universities in the Atlanta area. It was administered during telephone calls and/or personal interviews. The questionnaire consisted of questions regarding the frequency and duration of the sexual abuse, the role relationship between the survivor and the perpetrator of the sexual abuse, and the Trauma Symptom Checklist. No statistical significance was found in the relationship between psychological trauma and duration, frequency and proximity. Although no statistical significance was found, the findings do warrant further research using a larger sample size, and a more powerful statistical test that may reveal a more significant relationship between these variables