CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE AND ADULT SEXUAL REVICTIMIZATION

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. ... tion and assessedfor experiences such as being exposed to another person's genitals (e.g., Wyatt et aL, 1992) or being assaulted in the context of alcohol or drug use (Gidcyz et aL, 1993, 1995). Mayall and Gold's (1995) findings indicated that the relationship between CSA and ASA was strongest when sexual assault was more narrowly defined. Studies that used definitions pertaining to severe assault experiences in childhood, such as attempted and completed rape, observed stronger associations with subsequent victimization, compared with definitions involving broader or less clearly specified definitions of sexual assault. Attempts should be made to standardize both definitions of child and adult sexual assault as well as to create measuresthat will adequately represent these definitions. Another major limitation of past studies has been the sampling methodology that has been used. With the exception of a fewlarge-scaleprobabilitystudies,the bulk of research has been conducted with small,select samples, such as college students and volunteers from the community. Although convenience samples provide valuable information, particularly in the initial stages of research when pilot data are needed, the findings may not generalizeto other groups. For example, college women have routinely been used to studyinterpersonal victimization phenomena. Researchershave proposed that college students are an appropriate target group because they represent an age group at high risk for experiencing interpersonal violence. However, factors that maybe unique to college participants, such as their birth cohort, life circumstances, and their willingness to volunteer to participate in research studies, may differentiate them from the general population. It is also noteworthy that college students, by virtue of being enrolled in an institution of higher learning, may possesscharacteristics that differentiate them from the general population. Consequently, it is essential for researchers to use representative samples,as much as possible, to maximizethe likelihood that findings are generalizable to a larger segment of the population. Varying definitions of age cutoffs determining child, adolescent, and adult assaultsmay be associated with different patterns of findings related to risk of revictimization, because the recency of a previous assault may be an important risk factor. Gidcyzet aL (1995) found that risk for assault within a particular developmental period (Le., adolescent or adult) was predicted by an assault within the most recent preceding developmental period, as opposed to an assault occurring within a more distant developmental period. Thus, an assault in adolescence waspredictive of adult victimization, whereas an assault in childhood was not. Therefore, researchers must attend to the time frame in which prior victimization experiences occur. Thus, there is a need to recognize multiple developmental periods and to assessfor a range of assault characteristics that may be pertinent to each developmental stage. Another limitation related to sampling methodology has been the overreliance on demographically homogeneous groups. Specifically, research examining victimization and revictimization has relied primarily on data gath- 62 RICH IT AL. 1
ered from Caucasian women. Given the strong reliance on convenience sam~ pling methodology, little effort has been devoted to recruiting heterogeneous samples. As a result, there is a paucity of research examining the interrela~ tionships among race, gender, socioeconomic status, and victimization or revictimization. Research has indicated that girls and women are significantly more likely than boys and men to be victims of sexual assault (Boney~McCoy & Finkelhor, 1995; BumametaL, 1988; Finkelhor, Hotaling, Lewis, & Smith, 1990; Silverman, Reinherz, & Giaconia, 1996; Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). There are limitations of the present review that should be acknowl~ edged. The process for identifying studies for inclusion in this review was not meant to be comprehensive. We selected studies on the basis of several crite~ ria, including studies that used large, representative samples, recruited from either college or community populations, and investigated the relationship between CSA and ASA. Therefore, we may have overlooked some impor~ tant studies. Despite these restrictions, the findings of the review point to the importance of recognizing CSA as a risk factor for subsequent victimiza~ tion and suggest the need for additional research examining revictimization phenomena. FUTURE DIRECTIONS Despite the previously noted methodological differences, studies have consistently found that CSA increases a woman's risk for future victimiza~ tion. Data are lacking regarding whether this phenomenon is true for men. In addition, a few studies have identified variables that may mediate the relationship between a past sexual victimization and a future sexual victim~ ization. In many respects, this line of research is in its infancy because the majority of studies have merely documented the association between child~ hood victimization and later victimization experiences. Additional research isneeded to understand how and why revictimization occurs. Unfortunately, the limitations that have plagued the child abuse literature, such as method~ ologicaland definitional differencesacrossstudies,alsoplague revictimization research. Therefore, clarifying definitional issues and standardizing assess~ ment instruments must first be accomplished to advance research into the phenomenon of sexual revictimization. Future research will require a greater emphasis on theoretical explana~ tions to better understand the mechanisms for why individuals are revictimized. There is a need to develop testable theories, especially those that attend to potential mediating and moderating variables. With the use of theory, findings are more easilysynthesized,and the interrelationships among variables can be taken into account. At this point, we have limited under~ standing of the potential factors that may mediate or moderate the effects of CSA in association with revictimization. It ispossible that something unique CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE AND ADULT SEXUAL REVICTIMIZATION 63
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Page 3 and 4: Vt TABLE 2.1 Assault Characteristic
Page 5 and 6: Therefore, data on the prevalence r
Page 7 and 8: symptom measures.A limitation of th
Page 9 and 10: thermore, women who were victimized
Page 11 and 12: experiences included events that oc
Page 13: A limitation of this study was that
Page 17 and 18: to differbetween White and Blackwom
Page 19 and 20: Calhoun, K. S., Gidycz, C. A., Loh,

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