Forced to Grow Up? Childhood Sexual Abuse, Pubertal Maturation, and Later Sexual Activity

• In Event: Lightning Talk: Youth, Crime, and Justice

Abstract

A great deal of research has examined the role of childhood sexual abuse in the development of sexual behaviors at later stages of the life-course, especially adolescence. However, the conditions that influence the strength or direction of this relationship remain unclear. The current research uses The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to examine the possible moderating role of actual and perceptual pubertal maturation in the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and later sexual activity. In doing so, the study will examine the combined influence of actual and perceived pubertal maturation on subsequent sexual behaviors. Preliminary findings suggest a potential moderating effect, where those youth that exhibit earlier, more advanced physical indicators of pubertal maturation and heightened perceptions of physical maturity are more likely to engage in increased sexual activity during adolescence and following previous sexual victimization. The study’s findings will have implications for criminal justice policy, programming, and education.

Author

• Alli Cher Wagner, Florida State University