Sister-sister incest: data from an anonymous computerized survey.

Retrospective data were entered anonymously by 1,521 adult women using a computer-assisted self-interview. Thirty-one participants were victims of sister-sister incest, 40 were victims of brother-sister incest, 19 were victims of father-daughter incest, 8 were victims of sexual abuse by an adult female (including one mother), and 232 were victims of sexual abuse by an adult male other than their father before reaching 18 years of age. The rest (1,203) served as controls. The victims of sister-sister incest had significantly more problematic outcomes than controls on many measures as adults. Victims of sister-sister incest were more depressed and more likely than controls to be distant from the perpetrator-sister and to have traded sex for money, experienced an unplanned pregnancy, engaged in four different types of masturbation, and engaged in 13 different same-sex behaviors. Our findings were consistent with other reports of early eroticization and persistent hypereroticization of incest victims.

Risk factors for father-daughter incest: data from an anonymous computerized survey.

Retrospective data from 2,034 female participants, provided anonymously using a computer-assisted self-interview, were used to identify risk factors for father-daughter incest (FDI). A total of 51 participants had reported having experienced FDI. The risk factors identified within the nuclear family by the multiple logistic regression analysis included the following: (a) Having parents whose relationship included verbal or physical fighting or brutality increased the likelihood of FDI by approximately 5 times; (b) families accepting father-daughter nudity as measured by a scale with values ranging from 0 to 4 increased the likelihood of FDI by approximately 2 times for each unit value increase of 1 above 0; (c) demonstrating maternal affection protected against FDI. The likelihood of being a victim of FDI was highest if the participant's mother never kissed or hugged her; it decreased by 0.44 for a 1-unit increase in affection and by 0.19 times for a 2-unit increase; and (d) being in homes headed by single-parent mothers or where divorce or death of the father had resulted in a man other than the biological father living in the home increased the risk of FDI by approximately 3.2 times. The results were consistent with the idea that FDI in many families was the cumulative result of a circular pattern of interactions, a finding that has implications for treatment of the perpetrator, the victim, and the families. The data also suggested it may be possible to design an information program for parents that will result in reducing the risk of FDI in families implementing the program's recommendations.

Father-daughter incest: data from an anonymous computerized survey.

Retrospective data were entered anonymously by 1,521 adult women using computer-assisted self-interview. Nineteen were classified as victims of father-daughter incest, and 241 were classified as victims of sexual abuse by an adult other than their father before reaching 18 years of age. The remaining 1,261 served as controls. Incest victims were more likely than controls to endorse feeling damaged, psychologically injured, estranged from one or both parents, and shamed by others when they tried to open up about their experience. They had been eroticized early on by the incest experience, and it interfered with their adult sexuality. Incest victims experienced coitus earlier than controls and after reaching age 18 had more sex partners and were more likely to have casual sex outside their primary relationship and engage in sex for money than controls. They also had worse scores on scales measuring depression, sexual satisfaction, and communication about sex than controls.

Correlates of early overt and covert sexual behaviors in heterosexual women.

We used data provided by 417 Kinsey-0 and Kinsey-1 heterosexual women using an anonymous computerized survey to determine the adult correlates of two female-female behaviors that occurred before age 18; 25.4% of participants reported engaging in one or both behaviors. Sexual experimentation with females and masturbating using images of females before age 18 were statistically significant predictors of four different female-female behaviors in adulthood: sexual contact with females, masturbating using images of females, preferring a female fantasy partner while having sex with a favorite (male) partner, and voyeurism directed at females; 27.3% of the participants reported engaging in one or more of the latter four behaviors. The analogous early female-male behaviors were not statistically significant predictors of female-female behaviors in adults. Conditioning resulting from participation in these early female-female behaviors might explain the correlations between the two early behaviors and the subsequent four adult same-gender behaviors. The earliest and latest ages that participants engaged in each early behavior and case-by-case analysis showed that the sequence of events leading to the female-female adult behaviors was initial sexual experimentation with similar age females (at a median age of 9 years) followed by masturbating using images of females (at a median age of 15). These results suggest that conditioning and other forms of learning play an important role in establishing coexisting same-gender orientations in heterosexual women.

Intimacy, orgasm likelihood, and conflict predict sexual satisfaction in heterosexual male and female respondents.

Anonymous data provided by 417 female and 179 male sexually active heterosexual respondents showed that in long term sexual relationships, sexual satisfaction was positively correlated with two different intimacy variables, the respondent's orgasm likelihood, and negatively correlated with conflict in the relationship. Multiple linear regression permitted us to measure the effect sizes of these variables as predictors of sexual satisfaction. These findings have important implications for treatment of symptomatic couples.