Thomas R. McCanne

Relationship of childhood sexual physical and combined sexual and physical abuse to adult victimization and posttraumatic stress disorder.

OBJECTIVE Prior research has suggested that women who experience childhood sexual abuse are at increased risk for sexual victimization and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in adulthood. However, previous studies have paid insufficient attention to the overlap of childhood sexual and physical abuse. In the present study we disentangled the separate and combined effects of childhood sexual and physical abuse by comparing groups of participants who reported contact childhood sexual abuse only (SA), sequelae of childhood physical abuse only (PA), combined childhood sexual and physical abuse (CA), or no child abuse (NA). METHOD A sample of 475 female college students completed measures of sexual and physical abuse in childhood (before age 15) and adulthood (after age 15), PTSD and trauma symptoms, and demographic variables. Of these participants, 27 were assigned to the SA group, 53 to the PA group, 31 to the CA group, and 211 to the NA group. RESULTS The highest rate of adult sexual and/or physical victimization was reported by the CA group, followed by the PA group, with lower rates reported by the SA and NA groups. Using adult victimization as a covariate, the analyses revealed that the CA group reported significantly higher rates of PTSD and trauma symptoms compared to the NA group. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that prior reports of differences in rates of adult victimization and PTSD between women who experienced childhood sexual abuse and women who did not may be attributable to the inclusion of participants with a history of combined childhood sexual and physical abuse in childhood sexual abuse groups. The importance of separating physical and combined forms of victimization from sexual abuse is discussed.

Physiological responses to non-child-related stressors in mothers at risk for child abuse

Physical child abusers and adults at risk for child abuse, relative to comparison subjects, are reported to be more physiologically reactive to child-related stressors. It is not known if the reported physiological reactivity is child specific or if physical child abusers and at-risk parents are also more reactive to other types of stressful stimuli. The present study investigated changes in heart rate and skin conductance in response to four types of non-child-related stressors in at-risk and matched low-risk mothers. The four types of stressful stimuli were: a cold pressor; a stressful film depicting industrial accidents; unsolvable anagrams; and an aversive car horn. At-risk mothers, relative to low-risk mothers, had greater and more prolonged sympathetic activation during presentations of the cold pressor and the stressful film, the stimuli rated as the most stressful. The present data, combined with previous findings, support the view that generalized sympathetic activation to both child and non-child-related stressors may serve as a mediator of physical child abuse.

The effects of daily stressors on physical health in women with and without a childhood history of sexual abuse.

OBJECTIVE The primary purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between daily stressors and physical symptoms in college-age women with a childhood history of sexual abuse and women without a history of childhood sexual abuse. It was hypothesized that women with a history of childhood sexual abuse would be particularly susceptible to the effects of daily stressors on physical symptoms, and would show more covariation between daily stressors and physical symptoms, compared to women without a history of childhood sexual abuse. METHOD Female college students (n = 491) were screened for histories of childhood (before age 15) and adulthood (after age 15) contact sexual abuse. Of these participants, 18 women with only a history of childhood sexual abuse were assigned to the SA group, and 27 women with no history of childhood or adulthood sexual abuse were assigned to the NA group. These women filled out self-report measures of daily hassles and physical symptoms for 28 consecutive days. RESULTS During the 5 days preceding a highly stressful day, women in the SA group reported significantly more physical symptoms than during the 5 days preceding a day of low stress. For the NA group, there were no significant differences in reported physical symptoms between high- and low-stress days. CONCLUSIONS The pattern of results for physical symptoms suggests that women with a history of childhood sexual abuse may be particularly susceptible to the effects of heightened daily stress, and may display this susceptibility in the report of physical symptoms. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.

Childhood abuse, body image disturbance, and eating disorders.

Studies have suggested that women who experience child sexual abuse are at risk for developing symptoms related to anorexia nervosa and bulimia. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships among childhood sexual and physical abuse, body image disturbance, and eating disorder symptomatology. Of 670 female college students screened for childhood abuse, 29 sexually abused, 32 physically abused, and 29 nonabused women completed measures of eating disorder symptoms, psychological factors thought to be related to eating disorders, and body image distortion. Contrary to previous reports, there was no evidence that child sexual or physical abuse was associated with the development of body image disturbance. Furthermore, the results did not support the hypothesis that child sexual and physical abuse are related to eating disorder symptomatology. It is suggested that subjects who are victims of child sexual abuse and who are receiving psychotherapy manifest higher rates of a number of different types of psychopathology, including eating disorders.

Physiological responses to child stimuli in mothers with and without a childhood history of physical abuse

The present study investigated changes in heart rate, skin conductance, and self-reported affect in response to child stimuli in mothers with and without a childhood history of physical abuse. The stimuli were videotape presentations of a smiling and crying infant. During baseline periods (prior to videotape presentations), mothers without a childhood history of abuse displayed a significant reduction in skin conductance, which was not observed in mothers with a childhood history of abuse, suggesting that mothers without a history of abuse habituated to the experimental setting. Although the two groups of mothers did not differ in self-reported affect or in heart rates in response to the crying and smiling infant, mothers with a childhood history of abuse showed increases in skin conductance while viewing the smiling infant, but not while viewing the crying infant. In contrast, mothers without a childhood history of abuse showed increases in skin conductance during the presentation of the crying infant, but not while viewing the smiling infant. Similarities between the skin conductance results for mothers with and without a childhood history of abuse and skin conductance data reported for physically abusive and at-risk mothers are discussed.

Gender differences in physiological reactivity to infant cries and smiles in military families

OBJECTIVE The primary purpose of this experiment was to examine gender differences in physiological reactivity to infant cries and smiles in military families. METHOD Twenty males and 29 females viewed and listened to videotapes of a crying infant and a smiling infant while heart rate, skin resistance, and respiration rate were monitored. All participants were active-duty U.S. Air Force personnel or their spouses. RESULTS Males showed a larger increase in skin conductance than females during the crying infant stimulus. Males also showed an increase in heart rate during the crying infant stimulus, whereas females did not show any increase in heart rate during the crying infant stimulus. No gender differences in physiological reactivity were obtained during the smiling infant stimulus, although both males and females showed a significant increase in heart rate while viewing the smiling infant. CONCLUSIONS The results are contrasted with previous reports (e.g., Frodi, Lamb, Leavitt, & Donovan, 1978) of no differences between genders in physiological reactivity to a crying infant. Discussion of the results focuses on models of child physical abuse that involve physiological hyperreactivity. It is hypothesized that the greater physiological reactivity of males than females during a crying infant videotape may partially explain why physical abuse of a child by a male frequently results in more serious damage to the child than physical abuse by a female.

Physiological hyperreactivity to stressors in physical child abusers and individuals at risk for being physically abusive

Research on the physiological reactivity of physical child abusers and individuals at risk for being physically abusive is summarized and critiqued. Several theorists have hypothesized that physical child abusers experience physiological hyperreactivity to stressors, particularly stressful child interactions associated with child rearing. The experimental evidence generally supports the physiological hyperreactivity hypothesis, although there are some contradictory and inconsistent results within individual studies and across studies. The research also indicates that the physiological hyperreactivity of physical child abusers and those at risk for being physically abusive occurs during a wide variety of stimulus situations, including aversive child-related stimuli, nonaversive child-related stimuli, aversive nonchild-related stimuli, and during periods when no overt stimulus is present (resting or baseline periods). Recommendations concerning procedural and methodological improvements are made in order to enable future researchers to better address unresolved issues related to the physiological hyperreactivity hypothesis.

Validation of a self‐report measure of posttraumatic stress disorder in a sample of college‐age women

The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Interview (PTSD-I; Watson, C. G., Juba, M., Manifold, V., Kucala, T., & Anderson, E. D., 1991) was adapted into a self-report questionnaire, the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Questionnaire (PTSD-Q), which was validated against the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-IV) PTSD module (First, Spitzer, Gibbon, & Williams, 1995), using a sample of 76 college-age women who were not seeking help for psychological problems. The women completed the PTSD-Q and were later interviewed with the SCID-IV PTSD module. Use of a Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis indicated that a cut point of 60 on the PTSD-Q provided the optimal diagnostic efficiency relative to the SCID-IV diagnosis. Using a cut point of 60 on the PTSD-Q resulted in a sensitivity of .81 and a specificity of .82, relative to SCID-IV diagnoses. The PTSD-Q may be a useful screening measure to identify individuals who are not seeking help but who have PTSD.

Physiological Reactivity of Physically Abusive and At-Risk Subjects to Child-Related Stimuli

Six published studies have examined psychophysiological variables in response to child-related stimuli in physical child abusers or individuals who are at risk for such abuse (Disbrow et al., 1977; Friedrich et al., 1985; Frodi & Lamb, 1980; Pruitt & Erickson, 1985; Stasiewicz & Lisman, 1989; Wolfe et al., 1983). In general, a common assumption of these experiments has been that physical child abusers or those at risk for physical child abuse possess a hyper-reactive trait (Knutson, 1978) or may be hyper-responsive to child-related stimuli (Bauer & Twentyman, 1985) and should show larger increases in physiological reactivity than nonabusers. This chapter provides a detailed review and critique of these six experiments, beginning with the first published study and concluding with the most recent.

Autonomic and central nervous system responding: during hypnosis and simulation of hypnosis.

Abstract Heart rate, electrodermal responding, respiratory rate, firon-talis muscle tension, and occipital electroencephalographic activity were monitored while 6 female Ss were experiencing hypnosis and while 6 other female Ss simulated the experience of hypnosis. Physiological data were collected during 7 sessions on 7 consecutive days. The results indicated no differences in physiological responding between hypnotized and simulating Ss. Both groups of Ss exhibited significant decreases in heart rate and amount of electroencephalographic alpha activity during their experiences, relative to pre- and posthypnotic or simulating levels. In addition, both groups of Ss exhibited significant increases in electroencephalographic beta activity during their experiences. Both groups of Ss also displayed lowered levels of electrodermal activity, skin conductance, and respiratory rate during their experiences. The changes in these modalities, however, were significant for hypnotized Ss, but were generally not signif...