Social Relationships in Sexually Abused Children: Self-Reports and Teachers’ Evaluation

This study aimed to explore the social relationships of child victims of sexual abuse using both self-reports and teachers’ ratings. Participants were 93 child victims of sexual abuse and a comparison group of 75 nonvictims. Teachers’ assessments revealed that sexually abused children displayed greater social skill problems compared to same-age, nonabused peers and were more likely to display social difficulties nearing clinical levels. Analyses indicated that sexually abused children presented lower levels of interpersonal trust in people surrounding them yet a marginally higher level of trust in peers compared to nonabused children. Sense of loneliness and feeling different from peers did not differ between groups.