Childhood Sexual Abuse and Addiction
Childhood sexual abuse, or CSA, is a general term used to describe any adult behavior that coerces or forces a child into sexual activity, or frames a child in a sexual context. While some of these behaviors involve direct contact with a child, others involve voyeurism and other non-contact activities. When compared to adults with no history of CSA, adults who experience sexual abuse during childhood have significantly greater chances of developing a serious addiction to drugs or alcohol. While rates of sexual abuse are higher in females than in males, male victims of abuse have a greater chance of developing addictions during adulthood.
Background Information
Roughly 9 percent of all cases of child abuse in the U.S. qualify for the definition of sexual abuse, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Forms of direct sexual abuse include intercourse and genital fondling, while forms of non-contact abuse include exposing a child to pornographic images and exposing genitals to a child. Because of the hidden nature of many cases of child abuse, researchers don’t know for sure how many people experience sexual abuse during childhood. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics notes, approximately 25 percent of adult American women and 10 percent of adult American men report being sexually abused during childhood or adolescence. Roughly 80 to 90 percent of abusers are known to their victims, and include parents, siblings, other adult relatives, neighbors, teachers and coaches.
Links to Alcohol Addiction
Roughly 8 percent of adult women with no reported history of childhood sexual abuse have a dependence on alcohol, according to comprehensive study results published in the American Journal of Public Health. By contrast, almost 16 percent of adult women with histories of CSA are dependent on alcohol. Roughly 3 percent of women without a childhood sexual abuse history have severe alcohol dependencies, while over 7 percent of women with a history of CSA have similar levels of alcohol addiction.
Approximately 19 percent of adult men with no history of CSA have alcohol dependency problems, while almost 40 percent of men who experienced childhood sexual abuse have an alcohol dependency. The rate of severe alcohol dependence in men with no history of CSA is roughly 7 percent, while approximately 20 percent of men who experienced childhood sexual abuse have this level of alcohol addiction.
Links to Drug Addiction
According to the same study, approximately 14 percent of women with a history of childhood sexual abuse have some degree of drug dependence, while only 5 percent of women with no CSA history are drug dependent. Almost 10 percent of women with a CSA history have severe drug problems, while only slightly more than 3 percent of women without such a history have the same addiction issues.
Roughly 27 percent of men with a CSA history have some degree of drug dependence, while only 9 percent of men without a CSA history have the same problems. Approximately 16 percent of men who experienced childhood sexual abuse have severe drug problems, while these same problems only appear in about 5 percent of men without a history of CSA.
More Detailed Information on Women
Most research on childhood sexual abuse has focused on women rather than men. For this reason, we know more about the potential addiction-related effects of different types of abuse in women. For instance, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports, women who experienced non-genital abuse during childhood have more than twice the chance of developing an alcohol dependence than women who didn’t experience any form of childhood sexual abuse. By the same comparison, women who experienced childhood abuse involving intercourse have about four times the chance of developing alcohol dependence. When compared to women without a CSA history, women with a history of non-genital childhood abuse have almost 3 times the chance of developing drug dependence, while women with a history of intercourse-related childhood abuse have close to six times the chance of experiencing drug dependence.
Additional Factors in Addiction
A number of other potential factors can play a role in drug or alcohol addiction, including genetic predisposition, peer pressure, economic pressure and the presence of mental conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. In addition, many addicts have histories that include two or more known risk factors. For these reasons, no one can say precisely what role childhood sexual abuse plays in any given case of addiction. According to a review of over 200 studies, published in 2011 in the Journal of Addictive Diseases, childhood sexual abuse is considered a general or non-specific risk factor for drug and alcohol addiction. This means that, while CSA can lead more or less directly to addiction in some cases, in other cases, it plays only an indirect role or plays no clear role at all.
Treatment
Addicts with a history of childhood sexual abuse often have very complex sets of problems that need to be assessed during treatment. However, many treatment programs try to focus on either sexual abuse issues or addiction issues without acknowledging the potential for significant conflict between these two approaches. For instance, the language used in many substance abuse programs places heavy responsibility on the addicted individual, while the language used in sexual abuse programs commonly emphasizes the actions of the person who committed the abuse. While the best approach varies from person to person, effective treatment typically addresses and reconciles these conflicts while preserving the dignity of the individual.