Child Sexual Abuse and Women’s Sexual Functioning

I conducted a series of studies funded by SSHRC to investigate the impact of child sexual abuse (CSA) on women’s sexual functioning. This series of studies grew out of doctoral work conducted by Suzanne Lemieux under my supervision. Suzanne surveyed 272 undergraduate women. She found that women who had experienced CSA involving penetration or attempted penetration were more likely to report sexual revictimization in adulthood as well as a number of adverse behavioural and affective sexual outcomes. Having experienced sexual coercion as an adult was also associated with adverse sexual outcomes, but there was no cumulative effect of experiencing both CSA and adult sexual coercion. We published this work in Psychology of Women Quarterly.

In subsequent studies, I am examining the impact of CSA and adult sexual victimization on the sexual well-being of a community sample of women in long-term mixed-sex and same-sex relationships using a web-based questionnaire. The research on lesbian and bisexual women was conducted by Jacquie Cohen as her doctoral dissertation and examined the role of a number of minority stressors, including child sexual abuse and adult sexual victimization, on the sexual well-being of sexual minority women. We have a manuscript published in Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity based on this work. In addition, Lyndsay Crump, a doctoral student in the Department, is using these data to explore the effects of CSA on sexual-minority women in dating relationships. 

The work on heterosexual women is being conducted by Kerri Gibson as her doctoral dissertation. Her work focuses on women who are currently in a romantic relationship, because most past research investigating the sexual sequelae of CSA has not considered the relationship status of participants. Specifically, she is investigating: (1) whether the sexual well-being of women who have experienced CSA differs from that of women with no CSA history across a wide range of aspects of sexual well-being; and, (2) for those women with a CSA history, the extent to which charcteristics of the woman and of the abuse are associated with their sexual well-being.  

Publications and selected presentations based on this work:

Cohen, J. N., & Byers, E. S. (2015). Minority stress, protective factors, and sexual functioning of women in a same-sex relationship. Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. Online before print. DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2014.989307

Lemieux, S. R., & Byers, E. S. (2008). The sexual well-being of women who have experienced child sexual abuse. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32, 126-144.

Cohen, J. N., & Byers, E. S. (2006, September).  Minority stress, resilience, and sexual functioning in lesbian and bisexual women.   Paper presented at the Canadian Sex Research Forum, Ottawa.

Cohen, J. N., Byers, E. S. (2006, September). Minority stress, resilience, and sexual functioning in lesbian and bisexual women.  Paper presented at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Chicago. [Winner of the LBGT SIG Student Research Award.]  

Gibson, K., & Byers, E. S. (2008, October). The mediational role of automatic thoughts in adult sexual victimization survivors' sexual functioning.  Paper presented at the meeting of the Canadian Sex Research Forum, Montreal, QC.

Gibson, K., & Byers, E. S. (2011, September). The sexual and relationship well-being of women in relationships: The impact of child sexual abuse. Paper presented at the meeting of the Canadian Sex Research Forum, Vancouver.

Gibson, K., & Byers, E. S.  (2012, June). Childhood sexual abuse and sexual well-being: Experiences of heterosexual women in romantic relationships. Paper presented at the meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association, Halifax.

Criump, L., & Byers, E. S. (2014, October). Understanding the sexuality  of sexual minority women daters who have experienced child sexual abuse. Poster presented at the meeting of the Canadian Sexual Research Forum, Kingston.