Childhood Sexual Abuse among Adults with First-Episode Depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Comparison with Healthy Controls
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Background: Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) has been identified as a serious public health concern and has been a global challenge. The severe, chronic and frequent the abuse, more likely the abused adults are to show symptoms of Psychiatric disorders.Aim: To study the prevalence of CSA among adults presenting first time with a depressive episode or Generalized Anxiety Disorder.Methods: 64 consecutive consenting adults among Armed Forces personnel and their families, diagnosed as first depressive episode or Generalized Anxiety Disorder as per International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition (ICD-10) checklist and a control group of gender and age-group matched adults were assessed for CSA using a 28-item retrospective, self-report Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-28) at an Armed Forces hospital.Results: Majority of cases reported no CSA, whereas majority of the control group reported moderate severity of CSA. Among the cases, statistically significant co-relation was neither observed between the diagnosis and severity of CSA nor the severity of illness with severity of CSA.Conclusion: Absence of any signs of psychopathology could perhaps be due to psychological endurance, resilience and higher stress tolerance developed in the aftermath of early age traumatic incidents.
Authors: Khatri, Shradha, Goyal, Sunil
Institution: Armed Forces Medical College
Language: English
Topic: Child Abuse and Trauma
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7217759199