DEVELOPMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE

Childhood sexual abuse has numerous negative effects for the victim. The severity and specific form of these effects vary across individual victims and within individuals over time. The timing of the impact of childhood sexual abuse on the victim's course of psychosocial development is considered as a source of this variation. First, the variation in effects from childhood sexual abuse across individuals and within individuals over time is discussed, with implications for the developmental impact of that abuse. Second, the timing of the impact of the abuse on the psychosocial development is discussed, specifically for adolescence. Third, implications for treatment are considered.