Author(s): Hallee Hassell, Mattison Hillin, Ives Hong
Mentor(s): Dannelle Larsen-Rife, Ed Wu
Institution UTech
Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a public health issue that affects 8% to 45% of women and 2%-25% of men in the United States (Shrivasta, et al., 2017). CSA is nonconsensual sexual activity with people under the age of 18 (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024), including touching, fondling, and sex. CSA is an adverse childhood experience (Felitti et al., 2005) that is a deeply traumatic experience (Maniglio, 2009), leading to short-term and long-term outcomes such as negative impacts on psychological health, cognitive development (Ali et al., 2024), and obesity and cardiovascular disease (Felitti et al., 2005). Childhood maltreatment, including CSA, is associated with negative mental health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (Fergusson, McLeod, & Horwood, 2013). CSA may contribute to negative body evaluations due to shame, self-blame, and altered body perception often resulting from such abuse, and uniquely to lower body appreciation (Maniglio, 2009). The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control developed a strategic plan to investigate the individual and collective effects of adverse childhood experiences. This study evaluates the unique impact of CSA on body appreciation. We expected adults who experienced CSA would score lower on body appreciation than those who have not experienced CSA. Participants (N=427) were mostly female (77%), and the mean age was 30.15. Participants completed an item about their experience of CSA from the Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire (Felitti et al., 1998) and the Body Appreciation Scale (Avalos et al. 2005) via an online survey. There were significant differences in body appreciation for those who reported CSA and those who did not. These results provide direction for prevention and intervention focusing on the role of perceptions of the body in mental health disorders. Future research will examine the effects of CSA and body appreciation on health outcomes.