The Impact of Child Sexual Abuse: Gender Issues
Studies concerning gender differences amongst CSA girls and boys have reported somewhat mixed results. Some researchers have concluded that males react in more neutral, or even positive, ways to Child Sexual Abuse compared to girls (Bauserman & Rind, 1997). However many studies have found that children of both genders exhibit a range of negative effects resulting from CSA (Boney-McCoy & Finkelhor, 1998; Edwards et al., 2003; Flisher, Kramer, Hoven, Greenwald, Alegria, Bird, Canino, Connell, & Moore, 1997). The finding that boys tend to show more “externalising” symptoms (such as aggression and acting out) and girls show more “internalising” symptoms (such as depression and anxiety), has been favoured by some (Edwards et al., 2003; Watkins & Bentovim,... »
