Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39465995›Full record

ArticleThe Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry2025

The impact of childhood abuse on future military sexual assault and PTSD symptomology in Australian veterans.

Katelyn Kerr, Rebecca Mellor, Darcy Bennett, Richard Wellauer, Violette McGaw

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Katelyn KerrAustralian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, School of Psychology, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, QLD, Australia.
Rebecca MellorGallipoli Medical Research Foundation, Greenslopes Private Hospital, Greenslopes, QLD, Australia.
Darcy BennettGallipoli Medical Research Foundation, Greenslopes Private Hospital, Greenslopes, QLD, Australia.
Richard WellauerToowong Private Hospital, Toowong, QLD, Australia.
Violette McGawToowong Private Hospital, Toowong, QLD, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-7046-1676

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe trauma most commonly associated with the military is combat-related trauma. It is increasingly recognised that childhood sexual and physical abuse and military sexual assault may influence or exacerbate posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when military members are exposed to combat.

aimsThe study aimed to determine whether a history of childhood sexual and physical abuse would increase the likelihood of military sexual assault (MSA) and determine whether a history of sexual abuse (childhood or military) impacted the incidence and severity of post-trauma sequelae compared to veterans without this history.

methodA retrospective correlational analysis was performed on baseline data collected from clinical case records of a cohort of 134 Australian veterans with PTSD who had attended an outpatient Military Service Trauma Recovery Day Programme between October 2020 and May 2022.

resultsAlmost half (48.5%) of veterans reported a history of abuse. Prevalence rates of military sexual abuse, child sexual abuse and child physical abuse were 14.9%, 13.4% and 23.1% respectively. The relationship between those who experienced childhood abuse and those who experienced military sexual abuse was not significant. No significant differences were observed between those who experienced any sexual abuse and those who did not on intake scores of psychological symptoms.

conclusionThis is the first Australian study to investigate the prevalence of childhood abuse and military sexual abuse and its impact on PTSD and associated psychopathology in a sample of veterans seeking mental health treatment. No additional risks of experiencing military sexual assault were found for those who had survived childhood sexual abuse.

Indexed as

Sex OffensesStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticVeteransAdultAdult Survivors of Child AbuseAustraliaChildChild Abuse, SexualFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedMilitary PersonnelPrevalenceRetrospective Studieschildhood abuseMilitary sexual assaultposttraumatic stress disorder

Identifiers

PMID39465995
PMCPMC11667955

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.