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Child Sexual Abuse and Women’s Sexual
Functioning
I conducted a series of studies funded by SSHRC to investigate the impact of child
sexual abuse (CSA) on women’s sexual functioning. This series of studies
grew out of doctoral work conducted by Suzanne Lemieux under my
supervision. Suzanne surveyed 272 undergraduate women. She found that
women who had experienced CSA involving penetration or attempted penetration were more likely to
report sexual revictimization in adulthood as well as a number of
adverse behavioural and affective sexual outcomes. Having experienced
sexual coercion as an adult was also associated with adverse sexual
outcomes, but there was no cumulative effect of experiencing both CSA
and adult sexual coercion. We published this work in Psychology of Women Quarterly.
In subsequent studies, I am
examining the impact of
CSA and adult sexual victimization on the sexual well-being of a
community sample of women in
long-term mixed-sex and same-sex relationships using a web-based
questionnaire. The research on lesbian and bisexual women
was conducted by Jacquie Cohen as her doctoral dissertation and
examined the role of a number of minority stressors, including child
sexual abuse and adult sexual victimization, on the sexual well-being
of sexual minority women. We have a manuscript published in Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity based
on this work. In addition, Lyndsay Crump, a doctoral student in the
Department, is using these data to explore the effects of CSA on
sexual-minority women in dating relationships.
The work on heterosexual women is being
conducted by Kerri Gibson as her doctoral dissertation. Her work
focuses on women who are currently in a romantic relationship, because
most past research investigating the sexual sequelae of CSA has not
considered the relationship status of participants.
Specifically, she is investigating: (1) whether the sexual well-being
of women who have experienced CSA differs from that of women with no
CSA history across a wide range of aspects of sexual well-being; and,
(2) for those women with a CSA history, the extent to which
charcteristics
of the woman and of the abuse are associated with their sexual
well-being.
Publications and selected presentations based
on this work:
Cohen, J. N., & Byers, E. S. (2015). Minority
stress, protective factors, and sexual functioning of women in a
same-sex relationship. Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. Online before print. DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2014.989307
Lemieux, S. R., & Byers, E. S. (2008). The sexual well-being of women who have experienced child sexual abuse. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32, 126-144.
Cohen, J. N., & Byers, E. S. (2006, September). Minority
stress, resilience, and sexual functioning in lesbian and bisexual women. Paper presented at the Canadian Sex Research Forum, Ottawa.
Cohen, J. N., Byers, E. S. (2006, September). Minority stress, resilience, and sexual functioning in lesbian and bisexual women. Paper
presented at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies,
Chicago. [Winner of the LBGT SIG Student Research Award.]
Gibson, K., & Byers, E. S. (2008, October). The mediational role of automatic thoughts in adult sexual victimization survivors' sexual functioning. Paper presented at the meeting of the Canadian Sex Research Forum, Montreal, QC.
Gibson, K., & Byers, E. S. (2011, September). The sexual and relationship well-being of women in relationships: The impact of child sexual abuse. Paper presented at the meeting of the Canadian Sex Research Forum, Vancouver.
Gibson, K., & Byers, E. S. (2012, June). Childhood sexual abuse and sexual well-being: Experiences of heterosexual women in romantic relationships. Paper presented at the meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association, Halifax.
Criump, L., & Byers, E. S. (2014, October). Understanding the
sexuality of sexual minority women daters who have experienced
child sexual abuse. Poster presented at the meeting of the Canadian
Sexual Research Forum, Kingston.
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