Mental Health Impact of Sexual Abuse, Rape, Intimate Partner Violence, and Hate Crimes in the National Lesbian Health Care Survey

The prevalence and mental health sequelae of child sexual abuse, rape, intimate partner violence and hate crimes are examined in a national sample of 1925 lesbians who participated as respondents in the National Lesbian Health Care Survey (1984-1985), the most comprehensive study on U.S. lesbians to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of gay & lesbian social services Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 27
Main Authors Descamps, Monica J, Rothblum, Esther, Bradford, Esther, Bradford, Judith, Ryan, Caitlin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Binghamton Taylor & Francis LLC 31.03.2000
Subjects
Bias
Child abuse & neglect
Crime
Hate crimes
Health
Preventive medicine
Psychology
Rape
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Summary:The prevalence and mental health sequelae of child sexual abuse, rape, intimate partner violence and hate crimes are examined in a national sample of 1925 lesbians who participated as respondents in the National Lesbian Health Care Survey (1984-1985), the most comprehensive study on U.S. lesbians to date. Multivariate analyses of covariance indicated that, relative to a comparison group, lesbians who had experienced child sexual abuse and intimate partner violence reported significantly more daily stress, depression, and alcohol abuse; those who had been raped reported significantly more depression and alcohol abuse; and those who had experienced hate crimes reported significantly more daily stress, depression and alcohol and drug abuse. Lesbians who experienced a physical hate crime reported significantly more daily stress and drug abuse compared to lesbians who experienced a physical assault that they did not perceive as hate-motivated. MANCOVAs were performed to examine the impact of cumulative violence among lesbians who experienced child sexual abuse and adult violence and showed that lesbians with a history of child sexual abuse and intimate partner violence reported significantly more daily stress and alcohol abuse. KEYWORDS. Lesbians, mental health, child sexual abuse, hate crimes, rape, domestic violence For a complete reprint of this article contact Haworth Press by telephone (1-800-HAWORTH) of EMail (getinfo@haworthpressinc.com). Copies are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Center, The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580. Article copyright The Haworth Press, Inc.
ISSN:2993-3021
2993-303X