Problems in the school (discipline, academic performance) are also often mentioned as a possible impact of sexual abuse. But this connection also seems to be not based on serious research.
In an interesting study of the Cornell University 1993 420 abused and neglected children have been compared with a matched sample of non-maltreated children. For neglected and for physically abused children a significant relation with school problems was found, but not for sexually abused children.
This is in agreement with the results of Kendall-Tackett & Eckenrode 1996. They conclude: "The results revealed that neglected children did perform more poorly than their nonmaltreated counterparts, having lower grades, more suspensions, more disciplinary referrals, and more grade repetitions, even when controlling for gender of child and SES. Neglect alone and neglect in combination with physical or sexual abuse was related to lower grades and more suspensions. The combination of abuse and neglect had a particularly strong effect on the number of disciplinary referrals and grade repetitions. [] Neglect and neglect in combination with abuse appeared to exacerbate a decline in academic performance that occurs as children enter junior high school."