Аннотация: About the theory that childhood illegal sexual experience influences cognitive abilities.
It is well-known that a scientific article by B. Rind & al. published in 1998 by the American Psychological Association disproved the harmfulness of "childhood sexual abuse" or CSA.
Rind & al. used the data obtained from college students, therefore anti-Rind critics claims sampling from college students to be not valid in studying CSA. Because the more a child is victimized by CSA, the less cognitive abilities (like attention, memory, executive functioning or intelligence) he/she may develop, and the less opportunities to enter a college he/she will have when grows up.
Indeed, there are lots of scientific data proving the correlation between childhood illegal sexual experience and adulthood cognitive functioning (see a review by Rosa, Scassellati & Cattaneo, 2023).
First of all, it has been proved by clinical studies on people with the bipolar disorder tested with so-called Childhood Trauma Questionnaire or CTQ (Aas & al., 2011; Savitz & al., 2008). But this Questionnaire developped by D.P. Bernstein & al. in 1994 is shown to be nonreliable when studying people with the bipolar disorder (Cay & al., 2022).
Some clinical proofs are obtained without the CTQ (like Lysaker & al., 2001, and Li & al., 2017, contradicting Aas & al., 2011), nevertheless, "elevated levels of psychopathology" in such studies' samples question their validity.
F.i., we've got two samples, where %73.5 to %83.0 of CSA survivors are suspected to have the posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD, and these samples demonstrate lower visual memory (Rivera-Veléz & al., 2014, like in Gould & al. 2012 study) and lower performance intelligence quotient or IQ (Sadeh & al., 1994, where PTSD appears to be caused by hospitalism, not by CSA)-but the World Health Organization claims less than %23.7 of CSA survivors develop PTSD (Kessler & al., 2017). The memory and intelligence problems are not expected in the three quarters of all CSA survivors. (For this reason Nakayama & al. 2020, Bremner & al. 1995 and Bremner & al. 2004 studies are not valid too. On the other hand, Nikulina & Widom got the opposite results in 2013.)
Also, when statistically controlled for non-CSA factors, the CSA-memory correlation becomes statistically insignificant (Porter, Lawson & Bigler, 2005).
The CSA-memory and CSA-attention correlations are disproved by Üçok & al. 2015 and Dunn & al. 2016 studies. The CSA-executive functioning correlation is disproved by Lantrip & al. 2023 and Nikulina & Widom 2013 studies. The CSA-IQ correlation is disproved by Nikulina & Widom 2013, Bremner & al. 1995 and Bremner & al. 2004 studies. In general, the CSA-"cognitive function" correlation is disproved by Kilian & al. 2017 study.
There are contradictions in the results of nonclinical studies too.
One study has found lower IQ in the homeless CSA survivors (Pluck & al., 2011) which does not prove any causality, because the poorer a person is, the more opportunities (s)he has for illegal sexual experience in childhood, though the less opportunities (s)he has for developping his/her intelligence (Zenebe & al., 2023).
In another, wider, population-based study, "Multivariate regression analyses revealed, however, that CSA was associated with better global cognition, memory, executive function, and processing speed, despite poorer psychological health in this group" (Feeney & al., 2013). It seems that "sexual abuse" makes children smarter!
The contradictions in cognitive sexual victimology can be explained by the fact that victimologists study both harmful and harmless sexual criminal cases without any distinction. F.i., correlations between childhood illegal sexual experience and adulthood Math Scholastic Aptitude Test scores are proven by a study "in which the subject was forced against her will into contact with the sexual part" (Navalta & al., 2006). And correlations with memory/attention problems were discovered in women that had faced "unwanted or forced sexual touching up to age 11 years and at ages 11-17 years." (Roberts, Summer & Weisskopf, 2020.) But children often contact sexual parts of others without being forced to and of their own free will.
85% Of CSA cases are non-compulsory (Lanyon, 1986), in more than 64% children participate (Virkkunen, 1981), in more than 40% children are initiators (Mohr et al., 1964; Rossman, 1976; Kilpatrick, 1992). More than a half (54%) of the 12-year-olds who reported sexual contacts with an adult described it as a positive experience (Lahtinen et al., 2014), "but less than half of the (15-year-olds reporting CSA) perceived these experiences as sexual abuse" (Helweg-Larsen & Larsen, 2006).
If a sexual contact is really wanted by the child it cannot be abusive and/or harmful. On the contrary, an investigation of rats has shown that "Sexual experience enhanced the number of newly generated neurons in the dentate gyrus", so that "Following continuous long-term exposure to sexual experience, cognitive function was improved." (Glasper & al., 2013.) "(T)he results supported the view that sexual interaction could be helpful for buffering adult hippocampal neurogenesis and recognition memory function against the suppressive actions of chronic stress." (Kim & al., 2013.)
It means children need regular sexual contacts to improve their cognitive abilities, and adult-child sex must be decriminalized.
The sources:
• Aas & al., 2011: "Is cognitive impairment following early life stress in severe mental disorders based on specific or general cognitive functioning?", Psychiatry Research.
• Bartol, 2004: Criminal behavior, a psychosocial approach, the Russian translation, in paper.
• Bernstein & al., 1994: "Childhood Trauma Questionnaire", APA PsychTests, the Abstract.
• Bremner & al., 1995: "Deficits in short-term memory in adult survivors of childhood abuse", the Psychiatry Research.
• Bremner & al., 2004: "Deficits in verbal declarative memory function in women with childhood sexual abuse-related post-traumatic stress disorder", the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.
• Brongersma, 1990: Loving boys.
• Cay & al., 2022: "Test-retest reliability of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in psychotic disorders", Journal of Psychiatric Research, the Abstract.
• Dunn & al., 2016: "Does developmental timing of exposure to child maltreatment predict memory performance in adulthood? Results from a large, population-based sample", Child Abuse & Neglect, the Abstract.
• Feeney & al., 2013: "Cognitive function is preserved in older adults with a reported history of childhood sexual abuse", Journal of Traumatic Stress, the Abstract.
• Glasper & al., 2013: "Sexual experience restores age-related decline in adult neurogenesis and hippocampal function", Hippocampus, the Abstract.
• Gould & al., 2012: "The Effects of Child Abuse and Neglect on Cognitive Functioning in Adulthood", the Journal of Psychiatric Research.
• Helweg-Larssen & Larssen, 2007: "The prevalence of unwanted and unlawful sexual experiences reported by Danish adolescents: Results from a national youth survey in 2002", quoted from O'Carroll (2018).
• Kessler & al., 2017: "Trauma and PTSD in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys", the European journal of Psychotraumatology.
• Kilian & al., 2017: "Childhood adversity and cognitive function in schizophrenia spectrum disorders and healthy controls: evidence for an association between neglect and social cognition", Cambridge University Press, the Abstract.
• Kilpatrick, 1992: Long-range effects of child and adolescent sexual experiences, quoted from Norlik (2013).
• Kim & al., 2013: "Sexual activity counteracts the suppressive effects of chronic stress on adult hippocampal neurogenesis and recognition memory", the Brain Research, the Abstract.
• Lahtinen & al., 2014: "Children's disclosures of sexual abuse in a population-based sample", quoted from O'Carroll (2018).
• Lantrip & al., 2023: "Associations of childhood trauma and executive functioning in everyday life of those with subjective cognitive complaints", the Applied Neuropsychology.
• Lanyon, 1986: "Theory and treatment in child molestation", the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, quoted from Bartol (2004) and Norlik (2013).
• Li & al., 2017: "Effect of childhood trauma on cognitive functions in a sample of Chinese patients with schizophrenia", Comprehensive psychiatry, the Abstract.
• Lysaker & al., 2001: "Neurocognitive and symptom correlates of self-reported childhood sexual abuse in schizophrenia spectrum disorders", Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, the Abstract.
• Mohr & al., 1964: Pedophilia and Exhibitionsm, quoted from Norlik (2013).
• Nakayama & al., 2020: "Possible Long-Term Effects of Childhood Maltreatment on Cognitive Function in Adult Women With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder", Frontiers in Psychiatry.
• Navalta & al., 2006: "Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Neuropsychological and Cognitive Function in College Women", the Journal of Neurpsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences.
• Nikulina & Widom, 2013: "Child maltreatment and executive functioning in middle adulthood: A prospective examination", Neuropsychology, the Abstract.
• Norlik, 2013: Tabuzone.
• O'Carroll, 2018: "Nothing like Nordic noir to cheer us up!", Heretic TOC.
• Pluck & al., 2011: "Neurobehavioural and cognitive function is linked to childhood trauma in homeless adults", British Journal of Clinical Psychology, sent by the author.
• Porter, Lawson & Bigler, 2005: "Neurobehavioral sequelae of child sexual abuse", Child Neuropsychology, the Abustract.
• Rind & al., 1998: "A Meta-Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples", Psychological Bulletin.
• Rivera-Vélez & al., 2014: "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Dissociation, and Neurological Performance in Latina Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse", Journal of Child Sexual Abuse.
• Roberts, Summer & Weisskopf, 2020: "Childhood Abuse and Cognitive Function in a Large Cohort of Middle-Aged Women", Child Maltreatment.
• Rosa, Scassellati & Cattaneo, 2023: "Association of childhood trauma with cognitive domains in adult patients with mental disorders and in non-clinical populations: a systematic review", Frontiers in Psychology.
• Rossman, 1976: Sexual experience between men and boys, quoted from Norlik (2013).
• Sadeh & al., 1994: "Somatic, cognitive and emotional characteristics of abused children in a psychiatric hospital", Child Psychiatry & Human Development.
• Üçok & al., 2015: "History of childhood physical trauma is related to cognitive decline in individuals with ultra-high risk for psychosis", the Schizophrenia Research, the Abstract.
• Virkkunen, 1981: "The child as participating victim", quoted from Brongersma (1990) and Norlik (2013).
• Zenebe & al., 2023: "Risky sexual practice and associated factors among street children of Wonago town, Gedeo zone, Southern Ethiopia", Frontiers in Public Health.