The correlates of male adults' perceptions of their early sexual experiences

This study investigates the relationship between men's perceptions of their earliest sexual experiences and adult psychosocial functioning. Twenty men who identified themselves as sexual abuse survivors were compared with 20 men who would be classified as sexual abuse survivors by common research definitions, but do not identify themselves as survivors, and to 20 men who reported only noncoercive childhood sexual experiences with peers. Men who self‐identified as survivors reported nearly twice the level of psychological distress, and were twice as likely to have utilized mental health services as the other two groups. The current article also examines differences in perpetrator and event characteristics.