Self-Destructive and Delinquent Behaviors of Adolescent Female Victims of Child Sexual Abuse: Rates and Covariates in Clinical and Nonclinical Samples

Self-destructive and delinquent behaviors were assessed in three samples of adolescent females. The first sample (N = 140) were substantiated victims of sexual abuse recruited from clinical settings. They were contrasted to a second sample (N = 430) of secondary school students, and a third sample from the same school setting (N = 94), that reported that they had been sexually abused. Few differences were found between the two groups of sexually abused girls, and both groups reported significantly more at-risk behaviors than nonabused girls. Family adversity was a consistent predictor of both self-destructive and delinquent behaviors. However, violence during the abuse, lower quality mother-daughter relationships, and depression were also related to self-destructive behaviors, while family economic problems and self-blame for the abuse were the only correlates of delinquent behavior.