This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (246)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Psychiatry  • Depression  • Eating Disorders  • Panic Disorder  • Public Health  • Substance Abuse/ Alcoholism  • Women's Health  • Women's Health, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

An Epidemiological and Cotwin Control Analysis

Kenneth S. Kendler, MD; Cynthia M. Bulik, PhD; Judy Silberg, PhD; John M. Hettema, PhD, MD; John Myers, MS; Carol A. Prescott, PhD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2000;57:953-959.

Background  Women who report childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are at increased risk for developing psychiatric disorders in adulthood. What is the diagnostic specificity and cause of this association?

Methods  In a population-based sample of 1411 female adult twins, 3 levels of CSA were assessed by self-report and cotwin report: nongenital, genital, and intercourse. Interviews with twins and parents assessed family background and diagnoses of psychiatric and substance dependence disorders. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated by logistic regression.

Results  By self-report, 30.4% reported any CSA and 8.4% reported intercourse. Self-reported CSA was positively associated with all disorders, the highest ORs being seen with bulimia and alcohol and other drug dependence. The ORs were modest and often nonsignificant with nongenital CSA and increased with genital CSA and especially intercourse, where most ORs exceeded 3.0. A similar pattern of findings was seen with CSA as reported by the cotwin, although many ORs were smaller. Controlling for family background factors and parental psychopathology produced a small to modest reduction in ORs. In twin pairs discordant for CSA, the exposed twin was at consistently higher risk of illness.

Conclusions  Women with CSA have a substantially increased risk for developing a wide range of psychopathology. Most of this association is due to more severe forms of CSA and cannot be explained by background familial factors. Although other biases cannot be ruled out, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that CSA is causally related to an increased risk for psychiatric and substance abuse disorders.

From the Departments of Psychiatry (Drs Kendler, Bulik, Hettema, and Prescott and Mr Myers) and Human Genetics (Drs Kendler and Silberg), Medical College of Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond; and the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Richmond (Drs Kendler, Bulik, Silberg, Hettema, and Prescott, and Mr Myers).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Childhood abuse and psychosis; a critical review of the literature
Manning and Stickley
Journal of Research in Nursing 2009;14:531-547.
ABSTRACT  

Differential Relationships Between Personal and Community Stressors and Children's Neurocognitive Functioning
Fishbein et al.
Child Maltreat 2009;14:299-315.
ABSTRACT  

Interactive Effect of Stressful Life Events and the Serotonin Transporter 5-HTTLPR Genotype on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Diagnosis in 2 Independent Populations
Xie et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2009;66:1201-1209.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Adolescent Pregnancy: A Meta-analytic Update
Noll et al.
J Pediatr Psychol 2009;34:366-378.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Childhood Sexual Abuse is Associated With Physical Illness Burden and Functioning in Psychiatric Patients 50 Years of Age and Older
Talbot et al.
Psychosom. Med. 2009;71:417-422.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Adverse Childhood Events and Lifetime Alcohol Dependence
Pilowsky et al.
AJPH 2009;99:258-263.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Trauma and PTSD Among Adolescents With Severe Emotional Disorders Involved in Multiple Service Systems
Mueser and Taub
Psychiatr. Serv. 2008;59:627-634.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

"I thought . . . maybe this is my chance": Sexual Abuse Against Girls and Women With Disabilities in Malawi
Kvam and Braathen
Sex Abuse 2008;20:5-24.
ABSTRACT  

Being Bullied as an Environmentally Mediated Contributing Factor to Children's Internalizing Problems: A Study of Twins Discordant for Victimization
Arseneault et al.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2008;162:145-150.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Major Depressive Disorder
Belmaker and Agam
NEJM 2008;358:55-68.
FULL TEXT  

Psychosocial Characteristics of Nonoffending Mothers of Sexually Abused Girls: Findings From a Prospective, Multigenerational Study
Kim et al.
Child Maltreat 2007;12:338-351.
ABSTRACT  

History of childhood maltreatment is associated with comorbid depression in women with migraine
Tietjen et al.
Neurology 2007;69:959-968.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Why, when and how to ask about childhood abuse
Read et al.
Adv. Psychiatr. Treat. 2007;13:101-110.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Correlates of Adverse Childhood Events Among Adults With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders
Rosenberg et al.
Psychiatr. Serv. 2007;58:245-253.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Longitudinal Study of Psychological Functioning Among Juvenile Offenders: A Latent Growth Model Analysis
Wareham and Dembo
Criminal Justice and Behavior 2007;34:259-273.
ABSTRACT  

Practice Parameter for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Substance Use Disorders
Focus 2007;5:249-261.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Prospective Investigation of Major Depressive Disorder and Comorbidity in Abused and Neglected Children Grown Up
Spatz Widom et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2007;64:49-56.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Environment and Schizophrenia: Environmental Factors in Schizophrenia: Childhood Trauma--A Critical Review
Morgan and Fisher
Schizophr Bull 2007;33:3-10.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Reflections on the Relationship Between Psychiatric Genetics and Psychiatric Nosology
Kendler
Am. J. Psychiatry 2006;163:1138-1146.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Clinical practice. Panic disorder.
Katon
NEJM 2006;354:2360-2367.
FULL TEXT  

The Psychobiology of Neglect
De Bellis
Child Maltreat 2005;10:150-172.
ABSTRACT  

Does Childhood Sexual Abuse Set in Motion a Cycle of Violence Against Women?: What We Know and What We Need to Learn
Noll
J Interpers Violence 2005;20:455-462.
ABSTRACT  

Nature-Nurture Interplay: Genetically Informative Designs Contribute to Understanding the Effects of Trauma and Interpersonal Violence
Koenen
J Interpers Violence 2005;20:507-512.
ABSTRACT  

Women Living With a History of Physical and/or Sexual Abuse, Substance Use, and Mental Health Problems
Nehls and Sallmann
Qual Health Res 2005;15:365-381.
ABSTRACT  

The Structure of Genetic and Environmental Risk Factors for Anxiety Disorders in Men and Women
Hettema et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2005;62:182-189.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Toward a Comprehensive Developmental Model for Major Depression in Women
Kendler et al.
Focus 2005;3:83-97.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Impact of child sexual abuse on mental health: Prospective study in males and females
Spataro et al.
Br. J. Psychiatry 2004;184:416-421.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Discriminative Validity and Clinical Utility of an Abuse-Neglect Interview for Adolescents With Conduct and Substance Use Problems
Crowley et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2003;160:1461-1469.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Childhood Abuse, Neglect, and Household Dysfunction and the Risk of Illicit Drug Use: The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study
Dube et al.
Pediatrics 2003;111:564-572.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Treatment Processes and Outcomes Among Adolescents With a History of Abuse Who Are in Drug Treatment
Grella and Joshi
Child Maltreat 2003;8:7-18.
ABSTRACT  

Toward a Comprehensive Developmental Model for Major Depression in Women
Kendler et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2002;159:1133-1145.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Early experience is associated with the development of categorical representations for facial expressions of emotion
Pollak and Kistler
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2002;99:9072-9076.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Association Between Self-reported Childhood Sexual Abuse and Adverse Psychosocial Outcomes: Results From a Twin Study
Nelson et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2002;59:139-145.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Childhood Abuse and Lifetime Psychopathology in a Community Sample
MacMillan et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2001;158:1878-1883.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Features of childhood sexual abuse and the development of psychiatric and substance use disorders
BULIK et al.
Br. J. Psychiatry 2001;179:444-449.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Early Abuse Predicts All Kinds of Psychopathology
JWatch Psychiatry 2000;2000:3-3.
FULL TEXT