Perceptions of sexuality as related to sexual functioning and sexual risk in women with different types of childhood abuse histories

Perceptions of one's sexuality, self-reported sexual functioning, and sexual risk were examined in a community sample of 148 women with histories of either childhood sexual abuse (n = 26), both childhood sexual and physical abuse (n = 44), and neither form of abuse (n = 78). Controlling for depression and anxiety, the groups did not differ on sexual desire, arousal/orgasm, sexual pain, or masturbation. Women with abuse histories reported more negative affect during sexual arousal and reported more lifetime vaginal intercourse partners than nonabused women. In addition, the abuse samples reported more negative perceptions of their sexuality in their worst psychological states using the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior ( SASB) method than did women with no abuse history. An interpersonal focus and more precise abuse labeling are recommended, potentially revising our assumptions about symptom clusters and treatment.