Women's self-esteem: a community study of women who report and do not report childhood sexual abuse.

BACKGROUND

The determinants of self-esteem have been little studied in non-clinic samples. It has been suggested recently that child sexual abuse (CSA) may be a major determinant of low self-esteem in adulthood.

METHOD: The psychosocial circumstances associated with low self-esteem in two random samples of women, one reporting CSA, the other not, were compared, with particular emphasis on characteristics of family of origin. A two-phase (postal-then-interview) random community study assessed self-esteem and related variables.

RESULTS

Psychosocial variables predicting low self-esteem were the same in the two groups. They included being a follower or a loner, having an overcontrolling mother, being poorly qualified, giving a history of depressive disorder and displaying current psychiatric disorder. In addition, the subject's CSA status led to low self-esteem but only when it was of the most intrusive type. The CSA women had substantially lower mean total self-esteem score. However, not all aspects of self-esteem were diminished equally; 12/30 items differed between the two groups, and two of the five generated self-esteem factors, which we named Pessimism and Fatalism, which differed between the control group and the whole CSA group. There were no differences for Likeability and Determination.

CONCLUSIONS

Predictors of low self-esteem for women include childhood temperament, a poor relationship with the mother, low qualification attainment, psychiatric morbidity, both previous and current, and, only when it is the most intrusive, CSA.