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Kaiser Permanente Research: Gender And Sexual Abuse
(12/27/2007) by Kaiser Permanente
[San Diego, CA]—Working with Dr. Robert F. Anda at the Centers for Disease Control, Kaiser Permanente physician-researcher Dr. Vincent Felitti is author of a study out in the latest issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine showing that the genders of sexual abuse victims and perpetrators are less predictable than historically expected.
“Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) occurs on a worldwide basis and although most studies on the long-term consequences of CSA have focused on women, sexual abuse of both boys and girls is prevalent,” said Vincent J Felitti, MD, of the Kaiser Permanente, San Diego Medical Center . “An interesting finding of the article is that a significant number of boys were molested by women.”
In 40% of the cases researched by Felitti and his colleagues at the CDC, childhood sexual abuse of male victims came at the hands of female perpetrators. By contrast, only 6% of female victims are molested by women . And the male victims of sexual abuse, whether at the hands of female or male perpetrators, suffered the same long-term consequences—into adulthood—as female victims.
“All of this is unfortunately well concealed by time, shame, secrecy, and a social taboo against discussing these matters that have such important long-term consequences for health and well-being,” says Dr. Felitti.
Of 17,337 study participants, 16% of the men and 25% of the women reported being sexually abused as children. As Felitti et al have found in other studies, the victims of childhood sexual abuse were more likely to have attempted suicide, to suffer from depression, to abuse alcohol and drugs and to have problems within their marriages than non-victims.
This study is part of an ongoing research project with the CDC, the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Work resulting from the ACE study has already appeared in thirty-six medical publications including JAMA, Pediatrics, and other peer-reviewed journals. Participants in the study were enrolled as adults, surveyed about their experiences as children. The studies then looked at the incidence of adverse childhood experiences in participants’ lives and resulting adverse events in adulthood, including alcohol and substance abuse, mental and physical illness, and family difficulties.
Kaiser Permanente has research offices in California , Oregon , Hawaii , Georgia , Colorado , Maryland , and Ohio . Results of research conducted by Kaiser Permanente physicians and investigators have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Permanente Journal, the American Journal of Public Health, Pediatrics, and other clinical journals.
Kaiser Permanente is America ’s leading integrated health plan. Founded in 1945, it is a not-for-profit, group practice prepayment program with headquarters in Oakland, California. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of 8.2 million members in 9 states and the District of Columbia. Today it encompasses the not-for-profit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the for-profit Permanente Medical Groups.
Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente includes approximately 138,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and caregivers, and more than 11,000 physicians representing all specialties.
Laura H. Marshall
Kaiser Permanente National Communications Office
Source: http://www.kaiserpermanente.org This article appears in the following topics:
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