Oregon State study examines adult health and behavior of chronic child sexual abuse survivors

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Chronic experiences of childhood sexual abuse are more likely to lead to adverse health and life achievement outcomes in adults than single instances of childhood sexual trauma, a recent Oregon State University study found. The results point to the importance of understanding long-term trauma and the associated health care needs of patients, instead of relying solely on one-time checklists like “Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)” often used by practitioners to gauge patient well-being, researchers say. “With single-event traumas, people are resilient enough that they overcome those. It’s not until you get this more chronic exposure that you really see this giant escalation of problems much later in life,” said Joseph Catania, co-author on the study and a professor in OSU’s College of Public Health and Human Sciences.