Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Relationship Between Severity Of Childhood Sexual Abuse And Adult Perceptions Of Intimacy With Internalized Shame As A Mediator, Sarah Williamson

Theses and Dissertations

A community sample of adult women (N = 581) were surveyed to determine whether internalized shame mediated the relationship between severity of childhood sexual abuse and adult perceptions of intimacy in couple relationships. Characteristics of abuse, duration of abuse, frequency of abuse, age when the abuse began, and physical force used during the abuse were used to determine severity of abuse. It was predicted that 1) women sexually abused as children (N = 318) and non-abused women (N = 263) would significantly differ in their levels of internalized shame and their perceptions of intimacy; 2) severity of abuse would be …