The Stability of Retrospective Child Sexual Abuse Reports and its Association With Problem Avoidance

Due to reliability problems, use of retrospective measurement to assess child sexual abuse has long concerned researchers. Possible psychosocial causes of these reliability issues-including problem avoidance-have not been thoroughly studied. We tested the reliability of retrospective child sexual abuse measurement in a nationally representative sample of 12,438 adults over two periods (2001-2002, 2007-2008), assessed sex differences in reliability, and examined whether reliability depends on problem avoidance tendencies. Nearly three-fourths of child sexual abuse cases in the former wave were not again reported, and two-thirds of child sexual abuse cases in the latter wave were not previously reported. Females were more likely to report CSA later if reported previously (OR = 5.11). Participants who reported child sexual abuse in the former wave but not the latter were more avoidant than consistent reporters (3.13 versus 2.77). Our findings suggest that females may report child sexual abuse more consistently. Furthermore, inconsistent reporting may indicate problem avoidance. Suggestions for researchers and practitioners are discussed.