Child sexual abuse, psychopathology, trauma and attachment beliefs and interpersonal functioning among young adult survivors attending psychiatric services in India

Background: Child sexual abuse (CSA) is known to have short and long-term consequences which can have an impact even in adulthood. The objectives of the study were to explore the nature of CSA in individuals attending psychiatric services, the impact of CSA on psychopathology, trauma and attachment beliefs and interpersonal functioning in young adult survivors and factors associated with CSA and its impact. Methodology: The study adopted a cross-sectional exploratory design. The sample comprised of 246 young adult patients attending inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services of a tertiary care hospital in India. The tools used were: Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, Sexual and Physical Abuse History Questionnaire, abuse-related Beliefs Questionnaire, Sexual Abuse Severity Score, Trauma and Attachment Beliefs Scale, Brief Symptom Inventory and Social Adjustment-Self Report. Results: About 21% of the sample had a history of CSA; among them 70% were females. The age of CSA ranged between 8 and 12 years. About 34% of them had more than 5 such experiences and about half of them had more than 2 perpetrators with majority of the sample experiencing high coercion. The survivors of CSA had greater levels of psychopathology, trauma and attachment beliefs, difficulties in certain domains of interpersonal functioning in comparison with individuals without a history of CSA. Female gender, poor parental emotional support, and having more than one significant life event contributed to risk of CSA. Poor emotional support from parents and trauma related beliefs predicted psychopathology. Conclusion: The study has implications with respect to the assessment, research and conceptualization of therapy in individuals with a history of CSA.