The Effects of Multiple Interpersonal Traumas on Psychological Maladjustment of Sexually Abused Children in Korea

The purpose of the present study was to explore the effects of multiple interpersonal traumas on psychiatric diagnosis and behavior problems of sexually abused children in Korea. With 495 children (ages 4–13 years) referred to a public counseling center for sexual abuse in Korea, we found significant differences in the rate of psychiatric diagnoses (r = .23) and severity of behavioral problems (internalizing d = 0.49, externalizing d = 0.40, total d = 0.52) between children who were victims of sexual abuse only (n = 362) and youth who were victims of interpersonal trauma experiences in addition to sexual abuse (n = 133). The effects of multiple interpersonal trauma experiences on single versus multiple diagnoses remained significant in the logistic regression analysis where demographic variables, family environmental factors, sexual abuse characteristics, and postincident factors were considered together, odds ratio (OR) = 0.44, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.25, 0.77], p < .01. Similarly, multiple regression analyses revealed a significant effect of multiple interpersonal trauma experiences on severity of behavioral problems above and beyond all aforementioned variables (internalizing β =.12, p = .019, externalizing β = .11, p = .036, total β = .14, p =.008). The results suggested that children with multiple interpersonal traumas are clearly at a greater risk for negative consequences following sexual abuse.