RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment poses a risk factor for adult sexual aggression among men. OBJECTIVE: Efforts were made to examine links between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and sexual aggression after controlling variance associated with other forms of abuse. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: This sample was comprised of men (n = 489) who completed a national survey regarding their history of possible abuse and/or sexual aggression. METHODS: Maltreatment indices included CSA, parental and sibling physical abuse, exposure to domestic violence, peer bullying, and family emotional abuse. Self-report indicators of sexual frotteurism, coercion and rape were provided by the Sexual Experiences Survey-Short Form Perpetration. RESULTS: CSA links with the criterion indicators were relatively stronger (râ¯=â¯0.36, d = 0.65, pâ¯<⯠.001) than those found for non-sexual forms of abuse. CSA accounted for unshared variance in sexual aggression with these effects magnified by the addition of parental physical abuse (dâ¯=â¯2.1) or exposure to domestic violence (dâ¯=â¯2.2). The relative risks of prior acts of rape were elevated by CSA (RRâ¯=â¯4.39, pâ¯<⯠.001), parental physical abuse (RRâ¯=â¯3.85, p < 0.001), exposure to domestic violence (RR = 3.81, pâ¯<⯠.001), or sibling physical abuse (RRâ¯=â¯2.56, p = 0.007). These risks of completed rape were higher as well among respondents polyvictimized by two (RRâ¯=â¯4.92, pâ¯<⯠.001) or more (RRâ¯=â¯8.94, p < 0.001) forms of abuse. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple forms of child maltreatment, particularly CSA, were strongly associated with adult sexual aggression in this sample of men from the general population.