Family Characteristics and Traumatic Consequences Associated with the Duration and Frequency of Sexual Assault

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The objective of this study was to analyse the relationship between family characteristics and thetrauma associated with the duration and frequency of sexual assault on child survivors in the stateof Sabah, Malaysia. Eighty children who reported sexual assault through a one stop crisis centre inan urban hospital were studied. The main research instrument used was adapted from the traumasymptoms checklist for children. The results of the study show that there are significant differencesbetween the symptoms of trauma of victims according to the frequency of sexual assault, but notaccording to its duration. Social workers need both to understand and to take note of the relationshipof the variables of family characteristics, frequency of sexual assault and trauma effects on thevictims in their intervention work with child sexual assault survivors who report having beenabused. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of providing crisis interventionby social workers in Malaysia for child victims of sexual assault.

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