Childhood disclosure of sexual abuse and mental health outcomes in adulthood: Assessing merits of early disclosure and discussion
Open accessAbstract
Background Empirical research on the impact of early disclosure of child sexual abuse (CSA) on survivor health is limited and mixed. One recent study found that early disclosure may actually be detrimental for abuse cessation and adult symptomatology (Swingle et al., 2016). The current study re-examined the effects of early disclosure and related variables on long-term mental health for men with histories of CSA.Objective The primary aims of this study were to: a) investigate whether early disclosure and response to early disclosure were related to mental distress in adulthood, and b) examine whether having an in-depth discussion and timing of that discussion were related to mental distress in adulthood.Participants and setting Data were collected from a large, non-clinical sample of male survivors (N = 487), ranging in age from 19 to 84 years, through an online, anonymous survey.Methods Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted by entering groups of variables in four steps: control variables, CSA severity, disclosure, and discussion.Results Overall, models explained between 24-28% of the variance in mental distress. None of the CSA severity variables reached significance. Both early disclosure (β = -0.126, p = 0.003) and response to first disclosure (β = -0.119, p = 0.006) were significant protective factors in Model 3. In the final model, having an in-depth discussion (β = -0.085, p = <0.036) and years until discussion (β = 0.102, p = 0.029) were also related to mental distress.Conclusions Results support the merits of early disclosure and discussion on long-term mental health. Implications for future research and practice are presented.
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Reactions to disclosure that are perceived as negative can harm the victim's well-being beyond the victimization itself.
“It is crucial to prevent such responses, as reactions to disclosure that are perceived as negative can harm the victim’s well-being beyond the victimization itself (Easton, 2019; McTavish et al., 2019).”
From Why They Speak Up (or Don’t): Reasons For and Against Cybergrooming Disclosure Among Adolescent Victims (2025) · cites this paper as Easton, 2019
The Methods (Measures) rate survivors’ perceived response to first disclosure from very unhelpful to very helpful, and the Results report that more helpful responses were associated with less adult mental distress after accounting for abuse-severity measures. This supports the concern about negative reactions beyond the abuse itself, but the study examined male survivors and an association; it does not establish that negative reactions cause harm to victims generally. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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Cites
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“Unfortunately, many male survivors of CSA receive an unhelpful response to first disclosure, which discourages subsequent disclosures (Easton et al., 2014).”
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“For the bene fi cial effects of disclosure, the con fi dants ’ reactions – e.g., helpful versus non-helpful (Easton, 2019) – are relevant; however, this falls beyond the scope of the present study.”
- Authors
- Easton, S. D.
- Affiliations
- Boston College (US)
- Corresponding author
- Easton, Scott D.
- ORCID
- Easton, Scott D.
- Venue
- Child Abuse & Neglect
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-07
- Volume
- 93
- Pages
- 208-214
- ISSN
- 0145-2134 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6545143
- OpenAlex
- W2944871053
- Cited by
- 59
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 2
- FWCI
- 6.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Child Abuse & Neglect (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health
- Boston College Office of the Provost (2018 IGNITE)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Military, Security, and Education Studies
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
- Keywords
- child sexual abuse, psychological distress, adult mental health, male survivors, abuse severity, protective factors, disclosure timing
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Child, Child Abuse, Sexual, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Self Disclosure, Disclosure, Adult Survivors of Child Abuse, Young Adult
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