Award Date

1-1-1994

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Number of Pages

73

Abstract

Sex guilt has been identified as a disposition that appears to have an inhibitory effect on sexual behavior and sexual attitudes. Specifically, individuals high in sex guilt tend to engage in fewer sexual relations, use contraceptives less often, and have less sexual knowledge. Issues concerning sexual behaviors and attitudes may be particularly relevant for victims of sexual abuse as a result of their past experiences. The present study investigated the effects of sex guilt in a clinical sample of sexually abused and non-abused females. Differences between the two groups were examined. Results indicated that sexually abused females were higher in sex guilt than nonabused females, but only when religious affiliation was used as a covariate. Differences in level of sexual activity, sexual knowledge, and affective responses toward contraceptive topics and behavior and their relationship to sex guilt were also assessed. Sexually abused subjects had higher levels of sexual activity than nonabused subjects. No other differences were found. Limitations and implications for therapeutic intervention are discussed.

Keywords

Abused; Association; Guilt; Population; Sex; Sexually

Controlled Subject

Clinical psychology

File Format

pdf

File Size

2334.72 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Permissions

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this dissertation or thesis and wish to have the full text removed from Digital Scholarship@UNLV, please submit a request to digitalscholarship@unlv.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Download


COinS