A short screen for lifetime sexual victimization experiences: Expanding research on the Sexual Abuse History Questionnaire (SAHQ) across cultures, genders, and sexual identities

• Léna Nagy ^[1] ; Sophie Bergeron ^[2] ; Mónika Koós ^[3] ; Ateret Gewirtz-Meydan ^[4] ; Marie-Pier Vaillancourt-Morel ^[5] ; Shane W. Kraus ^[6] ; Marc N. Potenza ^[7] ; Zsolt Demetrovics ^[8] ; Félix Dupuis-Fortier ^[2] ; Beáta Bothe
  1. [1] Eötvös Loránd University

     Eötvös Loránd University

     Hungría

     
  2. [2] University of Montreal

     University of Montreal

     Canadá

     
  3. [3] University of Duisburg-Essen

     University of Duisburg-Essen

     Kreisfreie Stadt Essen, Alemania

     
  4. [4] University of Haifa

     University of Haifa

     Israel

     
  5. [5] Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

     Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

     CA.10.04.37067, Canadá

     
  6. [6] University of Nevada, Las Vegas

     University of Nevada, Las Vegas

     Estados Unidos

     
  7. [7] Yale University

     Yale University

     Town of New Haven, Estados Unidos

     
  8. [8] Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

  Mostrar afiliaciones +
• Localización: International journal of clinical and health psychology, ISSN 1697-2600, Vol. 25, Nº. 1, 2025, págs. 51-60
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2024.100535
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo (pdf)
• Resumen

  • The Sexual Abuse History Questionnaire (SAHQ), a widely used screening tool for childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and adolescent/adult sexual assault (AASA) experiences, has limited examination of its psychometric properties in diverse populations. Our study assessed the SAHQ's psychometric properties (i.e., structural validity and measurement invariance across demographic groups, know-group validity, and internal consistency) and estimated the frequencies of various types of sexual victimization across 42 countries and in diverse gender-, trans-status-, and sexual-identity-based groups that were previously missing from measurement-focused studies. We used a large, non-representative sample (N = 81,465; 57 % women, 3.4 % gender-diverse individuals, Mage=32.34 years, SD=12.48) from the International Sex Survey, a 42-country cross-sectional, multi-language, online survey. The SAHQ demonstrated excellent structural validity in all country-, gender-, sexual-identity-, and trans-status-based groups, as well as acceptable reliability and known-group validity. Occurrence estimates for six CSA and AASA types were reported across sociodemographic groups, corroborating previous evidence that women and gender- and sexual-minority individuals are at greater risk of CSA and AASA. Pansexual and queer individuals emerged as a particularly vulnerable group. Associations between different types of CSA and AASA revealed that participants who experienced any form of CSA were at least twice as likely to experience AASA. The findings have significant implications for policy and interventions, especially for marginalized groups.

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