Child sexual abuse and its relationship to revictimization in adult women: A review

Revictimization is defined as the experience of both childhood sexual abuse and later sexual or physical abuse as an adult. Although clinically it is generally well accepted that women with a history of childhood sexual abuse are more likely than women without such a ht tory to experience adult assault, little systematic investigation of this question has been conducted and no review of the literature on this topic is available. Several theoretical models have been suggested to account for the revictimization phenomena. This review outlines the theoretical positions that have been formulated to account for revictimization in women, examines the literature available concerning revictimization both in the form of adult sexual and physical assault, and considers impact of revictimization on women's later adjustment. Research in the area reveals that women who were sexually abused as children are significantly more likely to experience abuse as adults as compared to women who have not had such an experience in childhood. Conclusions about the state of the literature are discussed, and clinical and research implications are examined.