Child Sexual Abuse Definitions, Meta-Analytic Findings, and a Response to the Methodological Concerns Raised by Hyde (2003)

摘要

This paper begins with a review of two meta-analyses on the sexual and psychological adult correlates of child sexual abuse (CSA). One meta-analysis was based on nationally representative samples and the other on college student samples. Results of both meta-analyses suggest that: (1) CSA is only weakly associated with later adjustment problems in the general population; (2) this association in the typical case cannot be safely attributed to the CSA; and (3) males react much less negatively, or much more positively, than females do. The second part of the paper presents a response to the methodological concerns raised by Hyde (2003). She offered eight criticisms. It is shown that the criticisms did not stand up to empirical examination and that none of them validly cast doubt on the findings of either meta-analysis.