Abstract
Purpose
While child sexual abuse (CSA) victimization is linked to adverse mental and behavioral
health outcomes, few studies have examined the association between CSA and socioeconomic
attainment in adulthood, particularly for men. This study assesses the impacts of
CSA victimization on socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood, separately for men and women.
Methods
Analyses are based on the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health
restricted use dataset. Adolescent to Adult Health is a nationally representative
cohort of teenagers in grades 7–12 (1994–1995; N = 20,000) followed to ages 33–44
(2016–2018; N = 12,300). These analyses were based on N = 10,119 participants. We
used propensity score weighting to equate on observed confounders of those who experienced
CSA victimization with those who had not. All analyses were conducted in the R statistical
software.
Results
In this analytical sample, 25.2% of women and 9.8% of men reported of having been
sexually abused as a child. Results from propensity score weighted models showed that
by their late 30s, men and women who experienced CSA had lower educational attainment,
lower odds of being financially stable, and a decrease in household income compared
to their peers. CSA was associated with lower odds of being employed among women only.
Discussion
Findings from this study suggest that men and women who survive CSA, experience socioeconomic
disadvantages in adulthood relative to peers who did not experience CSA. Preventive
programs and treatment and other services for survivors of CSA could positively impact
individuals' economic productivity over the life course, reducing the individual and
societal costs associated with CSA victimization.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 12, 2022
Accepted:
May 9,
2022
Received:
January 19,
2022
Footnotes
Ms. Sanikommu is now with New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, Jonesboro, Arkansas.
Conflicts of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Identification
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