The Effect of Maltreatment Co-occurrence on Emotional Harm among Sexually Abused Children

This paper examines whether sexual abuse is more harmful to children if it occurs simultaneously with other types of maltreatment. While past studies have examined the relationships between these variables, few have a large enough sample size to adequately assess the contribution of co-occurring child maltreatment to emotional harm. Data from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS) showed a nonsignificant effect of co-occurring sexual abuse on emotional harm once controls for child and maltreatment characteristics were added. Co‐occurring sexual abuse appears to have a stronger effect on emotional harm among 12- to 15-year-olds and girls.