Differential adult symptomatology associated with three types of child abuse histories.

Using scales specifically developed for this purpose, the present study examined university women's retrospective reports of childhood sexual, physical, and psychological abuse as they related to three types of current psychosocial dysfunction. Multivariate analysis revealed that, as hypothesized, history of psychological abuse was uniquely associated with low self-esteem, physical abuse was linked to aggression toward others, and sexual abuse was specifically related to maladaptive sexual behavior. This analysis also indicated that although there were unique effects of each type of abuse, physical and emotional abuse were often present together--a combination associated with generalized psychosocial problems.