OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated the relationship of
characteristics of childhood sexual abuse and subsequent
psychopathology. METHOD: Referrals to a female psychiatrist in private
practice in an urban working class area provided 73 adult female
subjects who reported having been sexually abused in childhood. Data
were collected on age at onset, duration, physical invasiveness of the
abuse, violence, and the number and relationship of abusers. RESULTS:
Having had multiple abusers in childhood was significantly (p < 0.01)
associated with every outcome measure of severe psychopathology: an
initial Global Assessment Functioning score of 50 or below; both
single and repeated incidents of deliberate self-harm; overdose;
self-mutilation; and psychiatric hospital admission. CONCLUSIONS:
Notably, having had multiple abusers was the only characteristic
showing a reliable independent association with any of these
measures. Subjects who had had multiple abusers were significantly
more likely to have an earlier age of onset and longer duration of
abuse, and to have experienced violent abuse.