Self-reported childhood sexual abuse and attachment in early adulthood among university students

ABSTRACT

Worldwide, childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is widespread with severe consequences. We assessed the influence of CSA on insecure attachment in 488 young women in Botswana with no history of CSA, a history of CSA without re-occurrence in adulthood, and a history of CSA with re-occurrence in adulthood. Binary logistic regression analyses were fitted to study differences in anxious and avoidant attachment dimensions. Young women with a history of CSA only and those with a recurrence of sexual abuse in early adulthood had more than three times (OR, 3.34; 95% CI (1.77–6.28) and more than five times (OR, 5.28; 95% CI [1.84–15.12]) the odds of reporting anxious attachment dimension, respectively. Self-reported CSA is common and a risk to attachment.

KEYWORDS:

• Childhood sexual abuse
• insecure attachment
• young women
• Botswana

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all the students who participated in the study, the academic staff who permitted us to use their lecture times and Dr Sophie Moagi, Head, Department of Psychology and Chair of the Psychology Clinic who agreed to take in students who may be referred for psychological support. Finally, we would also like to thank the Director, Student Centre, who agreed to take in students who were referred for psychological support.

Data availability statement

Data is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request and permission of participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical Standards and Informed Consent

The current study was approved by the University of Botswana Institutional Review Board and has followed the requirements of the Helsinki Declaration.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the student funding agency, the Department of Tertiary Education Funding (DTEF) of the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Science, Research, and Technology of the Government of Botswana.

Notes on contributors

Olerilwe Topo Mokokwe

Olerilwe Topo Mokokwe is currently a research assistant and an intern at the Department of Psychology at the University of Botswana, Botswana. Her research interests include sexual abuse, mental health problems, and attachment styles among students in higher education.

Botlhe Eva Ntsinyane

Botlhe Eva Ntsinyane is a staff development fellow at the Department of Psychology at the University of Botswana, Botswana. Her research interests include sexual abuse, child maltreatment and mental health problems among young adults.

Kennedy Amone-P’Olak

Kennedy Amone-P'Olak is a professor of psychological trauma at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He has a long-term research interest in the influence of traumatic events such as war, stressful life events, and childhood adversity on mental health problems in adolescents and early adulthood.