Alzheimer’s Delirium and Dementia Q 14
When working with children who have been sexually abused by a family member it is important for the nurse to understand that these victims usually are overwhelmed with feelings of:
A. Humiliation
B. Confusion
C. Self blame
D. Hatred
Correct Answer: C. Self blame
These children often have nonsexual needs met by individuals and are powerless to refuse. Ambivalence results in self-blame and also guilt. Sexual abuse can cause serious physical and emotional harm to children both in the short term and the long term. In the short term, children may suffer health issues, such as sexually transmitted infections, physical injuries, and unwanted pregnancies.
Option A: In the long term, people who have been sexually abused are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They’re also more likely to self-harm, become involved in criminal behavior, misuse drugs, and alcohol, and commit suicide as young adults.
Option B: The “child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome”, proposed by Summit (69), has been invoked by a number of researchers to explain why children’s disclosures are often delayed following abuse and why disclosure is sometimes problematic or retracted. According to its author, the typical pattern of events is as follows: the child is forced to keep the sexual abuse a secret and initially feels trapped and helpless. These feelings of helplessness and the child’s fear that no one will believe the disclosure of abuse lead to accommodative behavior. If the child does disclose, failure of family and professionals to protect and support the child adequately, augment the child’s distress and may lead to retraction of the disclosure.
Option D: Child survivors of sexual abuse are at increased risk for anxiety, inappropriate sexual behavior and preoccupations, anger, guilt, shame, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other emotional and behavioral problems throughout their life span. Research shows that survivors of child sexual abuse are more likely to experience social and/or health problems in adulthood, such as alcohol problems, use of illicit drugs, suicide attempts, and marriage/family problems.