Allen Brian
Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA.
Center for the Protection of Children, Penn State Health Children's Hospital, 500 University Drive, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA.
Arch Sex Behav. 2025 Aug 5. doi: 10.1007/s10508-025-03228-w.
Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a commonly recognized risk factor for early sexual debut. However, relatively few studies are available that examine the potential mediators of this relationship. One promising marker is a preoccupation with sex and sexual topics as one enters the teenage years; however, sexual behavior observed at age 8 might serve as an even earlier risk indicator for early sexual debut. This study used the prospective data of 697 female children to test a serial multiple mediation model where sexual abuse predicts sexualized behavior at age 8, which in turn predicts sexual preoccupation at age 12, and this sequence then forecasts engaging in sexual intercourse at age 14. Given that child physical abuse (CPA) is also commonly linked to the display of childhood sexualized behavior, this variable was included in the models. Path analyses determined that the best-fitting model included sexual behavior as measured at age 8 and sexual preoccupation measured at age 12 in a serial mediator model, which effectively accounted for the relationship between early CPA and CSA and early sexual debut. Contrary to expectations, CPA emerged as an independent predictor of sexual behavior while CSA did not after the effects of CPA were controlled. The implications of these findings for understanding risk for early sexual intercourse are discussed, including treatment/prevention suggestions.
儿童期性虐待（CSA）是公认的初次性行为过早的风险因素。然而，研究这种关系潜在中介因素的研究相对较少。一个有前景的指标是进入青少年时期后对性及性话题的过度关注；然而，8岁时观察到的性行为可能是初次性行为过早的更早风险指标。本研究使用697名女童的前瞻性数据来检验一个系列多重中介模型，其中性虐待预测8岁时的性化行为，而这反过来又预测12岁时的性关注，然后这个序列预测14岁时的性交行为。鉴于儿童身体虐待（CPA）也通常与儿童期性化行为的表现有关，该变量被纳入模型。路径分析确定，最佳拟合模型在系列中介模型中包括8岁时测量的性行为和12岁时测量的性关注，这有效地解释了早期CPA和CSA与初次性行为过早之间的关系。与预期相反，在控制了CPA的影响后，CPA成为性行为的独立预测因素，而CSA则不是。讨论了这些发现对理解过早性交风险的意义，包括治疗/预防建议。
