Psychology Today

We believe this anger over childhood sexual abuse is repressed until a time later in life, when it is triggered or permitted expression, as in psychotherapy. Pribor and Dinwiddie (1992) interviewed women incest survivors (N = 52, ages [is greater than or equal to] 23) to understand more precisely the psychiatric illnesses associated with child sexual abuse. Findings showed incest survivors had more anxiety, depression, and alcohol abuse than the women who did not have histories of sexual abuse. …

…woman. Five subjects were divorced, one was single, and one was married. All had full-time jobs outside the home. Participants were chosen through their private therapists who approved of their clients' participation, and agreed to be available for support or follow-up if necessary. Subjects had been in therapy from 1 to 10 years. All women in this study were heterosexual. All subjects were sexually abused by men, although in two cases there also was abuse by women.