Repeatedly Assaulted Victims of Sexual Abuse at Increased Risk of Psycho-Behavioral Issues

A recent study examines victims of repeated sexual violence and the psycho-behavioral consequences associated with these issues. Findings show that the more frequently the problem occurs, it can cause increased risk of mental health issues.

"Our findings are important because we are able to identify some of the weaknesses and potential fallacies in classifying survivors based on the violence encountered during the assault," said Bryana French, assistant professor of counseling psychology in the Department of Educational, School and Counseling Psychology in the College of Education at MU, via a press release. "Indirect, repeated or subtle manipulation tactics can lead to a lifetime of psychological consequences."

As previous studies have assessed sexual victimization based on severity, this study specifically examined three types of sexual victimization, including verbal coercion, forcible rape and substance-facilitated assault.

"Most sexual victimization research tends to focus on forcible, violent rape while the subtler forms of sexual assault, like manipulation and coercion, are less studied," French added, via the release. "Unfortunately, we know that people who are victimized often experience re-victimization by the same or different individual. Our research focuses on those individuals who receive multiple forms of unwanted sexual advances and the psychological toll those experiences take on the victims."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

Statistics show that one in five adult women and one in 100 adult men have been victims of rape. For two in five of these women and one in five of those men, they will also experience another form of sexual violence.