Two Formats for Eliciting Retrospective Reports of Child Sexual and Physical Abuse: Effects on Apparent Prevalence and Relationships to Adjustment

Abstract

This study compared two common questionnaire formats for eliciting retrospective child abuse reports. Self-defined formats ask participants whether they were abused, using that term. Researcher-defined formats ask about particular abuse-related events, allowing researchers to specify criteria for identifying abuse histories. Adjustment was measured by self-report inventories of depressive and posttraumatic symptoms and global self-esteem. Participants were 542 college women and men. Significantly less abuse was reported on the self- versus researcher-defined formats. Self-defined abuse was more frequent if participants met criteria for researcher- defined sexual or dual abuse versus physical abuse and if they reported relatively frequent childhood physical violence, severe sexual acts, and marginally, sexual perpetrators who were incestuous. Relationships of adjustment with researcher-defined versus self-defined abuse were stronger, and relationships between adjustment and researcher-defined abuse were independent of self-defined abuse. Discussion addressed methods of eliciting retrospective abuse histories for research and for clinical purposes.