See also prostitution.
It seems natural to assume that volitional experiences have positive effects on later sexual functioning. If the child has liked his early sexual experience, it may increase his sexual interest.
Sandforts 1994 study shows such positive effects on later sexual functioning for consensual experiences.
But such a "sex-positive" influence may be easily weighted by sex-negative researchers as a negative result, for example naming it "promiscuity" or "compulsive desire for sex".
On the other hand, sexual promiscuity may be related with more risky sexual behaviour (unprotected intercourse, sexually transmitted disease, teenage pregnancy).
It seems also natural to assume that unwanted sexual experiences during the childhood may cause problems in later sexual functioning. This is in agreement with some of the research (see Bartoi & Kinder 1998), but the results are far from being unique.
Jacksonet al. 1990 have found a relation between incest an lower sexual satisfaction. They note that these characteristics may be related not only to the incest experience but to the general family environment in which incest occurred, as significant differences in family characteristics were also observed.
Sarwer et.al. 1997 have studied 359 men and found that "sexual abuse was not found to predict sexual dysfunction in these men. Rather, unemployment served as the only significant predictor of male sexual dysfunction." For 359 women, Sarwer & Durlak 1996 have found that sexual abuse involving penetration discriminated between women with or without sexual dysfunction.
Widom & Kuhns 1996 in a study with 1196 subjects have found no association of childhood abuse with increased risk for promiscuity or teenage pregnancy.
In the study of Greenwald et.al. 1990 "the abused subjects did not differ from the control subjects on self-reported levels of sexual satisfaction or sexual dysfunction."
Paul et al 2001 have explored links with sexual risk among men who have sex with men and found an association between childhood sexual coercion and risky behaviour.
Kinzl et.al.1995 have found sexual dysfunction only for multiple CSA, but found also that "negative early familial experiences were significantly related to any kind of sexual disorder; and women who reported orgasm disorders more often reported an inadequate sex education than did women with another or no sexual dysfunction".
Kinzl et.al.1996 found that for men "long-lasting adverse familial relationship to attachment figures are more influential to later sexual dysfunction than are childhood sexual abuse experiences."
The results of Fergusson 1997 suggest two routes for the association between CSA and sexual outcomes in adolescense:
One of the areas of long-term effect receiving the most attention in the empirical literature concerns the impact of early sexual abuse on later sexual funcctioning. Almost all clinically based studies show later sexual problems among child sexual abuse victims, particularly among the victims of incest. However, there have not yet been community-based studies on the sexual functioning of adults molested as children, as there have been of other mental health areas such as depression.
Of the clinical studies, Meiselman (1978) found the highest percentage of incest victims reporting problems with sexual adjustment. Of her sample, 87% were classified as having had a serious problem with sexual adjustment at some time since the molestation, compared to 20% of the comparison group (women who had been in therapy at the same clinic, but had not been sexually victimized as children). Results from Herman's (1981) study are somewhat less extreme: Of the incest victims, 55% reported later sexual problems, although they were not significantly different from women with seductive fathers on this measure. Langmade (1983) compared a group of women in therapy who had been incest victims with a matched control group of nonvictimized women and found that the incest victims were more sexually anxious, experienced more sexual guilt, and reported greater dissatisfaction with their sexual relationships than the controls. In his study of a walk-in sample at a community health clinic, Briere (1984) found that 45% of women who had been sexually abused as children reported difficulties with sexual addjustment as adults, compared to 15% of the control group. Briere also noted a decreased sex drive in 42% of the victims studied, versus 29% of the nonvictims.
Two nonclinical studies show effects on sexual functioning as well. Courtois (1979) noted that 80% of the former incest victims in her sample reported an inability to relax and enjoy sexual activity, an avoidance of or abstention from sex, or, conversely, a compulsive desire for sex. Finkelhor (1979), studying collegue students, developed a measure of sexual self-esteem and found that child sexual abuse victims reported significantly lower levels of sexual self-esteem than their nonabused classmates. However, Frohmuth (1983), in a similar study also with a college student sample, found no correlation between sexual abuse and sexual self-esteem, desire for intercourse, or students self-rating of their sexual adjustment. Virtually all (96%) of Frohmuth's respondents were unmarried and their average age was 19, so it is possible that some of the long-term sexual adjustment problems reported by women in the clinical and community samples were not yet evident in this younger population. Still, this does not completely explain the discrepancy from the Finkelhor findings.
Revictimization is considered in Wyatt et al. 1992. It is found to be related with multiple partnerships and brief sexual relationships. Fergusson et al. 1997 have found a similar relationship and found two routes: First, exposure to CSA was associated with childhood and family factors including social disadvantage, family instability, impaired parent child relationships, and parental adjustment difficulties that were also associated with increased sexual vulnerability in adolescence, but there appeared to be a causal relationship.
Urquiza & Goodlin-Jones 1994 have detected a dependence of this revictimisation effect from cultural background.
Carballo-Dieguez & Dolezal 1995 compared HIV-risk behaviour among homosexual and bisexual men. Sexually abused men show more unsafe sexual behavior.
Wingood & DiClemente 1997 have considered African-American women. Allers et al. 1993 identify "the characteristic abuse symptoms of chronic depression, sexual compulsivity, revictimization, and substance abuse [] as barriers to HIV education and intervention for survivors."
Doll et al. 1992 have considered sexual abuse among homosexual and bisexual men with STD. See also Lenderking et al. 1997
Boyer & Fine 1992: Two-thirds of a sample of 535 young women from the state of Washington who became pregnant as adolescents had been sexually abused: Fifty-five percent had been molested, 42 percent had been victims of attempted rape and 44 percent had been raped.
Kenney et al. 1997 found that "twice as many women who were coerced into sex or raped had a teenage pregnancy."
Slusser 1995 find that in comparison between seuxally abused and non-abused children "only one discriminating variable consistently arose. When overt sexual behavior, inappropriate for age, is manifested by a preschool-aged child, sexual abuse should be suspected"
Esparza & Esperat 1996 have considered adolescent mothers.
Bramblett & Darling 1998: male childhood sexual abuse may contribute to the prevalence of sexual thoughts and fantasies about sexual contact with male children and adolescents.
Gold 1991 has found more sexual fantasies among sexually abused women.
Willing participants of pedosexual relations range between sexually abused men and men without pedosexual experiences in HIV-risk behavior (Carballo-Dieguez & Dolezal 1995).