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Abstract
A large body of research demonstrates that women who have been sexually victimized as children are at increased risk for sexual trauma in adolescence and adulthood. The purpose of the present study was to explore the role of experiential avoidance in the adolescent sexual revictimization of child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors. Participants were 509 female undergraduates (95 CSA survivors and 414 nonvictims). Three models analyzing only the data from the CSA survivors in the sample were examined to test hypotheses regarding mediating effects. Each model employed path analysis and explored a particular disengagement coping strategy: unrestricted sexual behavior, alcohol misuse, or interpersonal difficulties. The models had overall good fit with the observed data. In each model, emotional avoidance was a strong direct predictor of disengagement coping strategies and indirect predictor of ASA. Passive response to risk accounted for much of this mediated effect. In addition, both unrestricted sexual behavior and passive response to risk were direct predictors of ASA. These models were then compared to identical models based upon the data collected from the 414 participants who did not report a CSA history. Implications of the present findings include the importance of addressing the emotion regulation competencies of CSA survivors and assisting in the development of adaptive engagement coping strategies in order to prevent sexual revictimization in adolescence and adulthood.