Environment and Sexual Orientation - History of Sexual Abuse

History of Sexual Abuse

The American Psychiatric Association stated: "...no specific psychosocial or family dynamic cause for homosexuality has been identified, including histories of childhood sexual abuse. Sexual abuse does not appear to be more prevalent in children who grow up to identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, than in children who identify as heterosexual."

According to an article in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, "Much has been written about a possible connection between abuse in childhood and sexual orientation in adulthood" and "Existing cross-sectional research suggests associations between physical and sexual abuse in childhood and same-sex sexual orientation in adulthood." For instance, one study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that "Abused adolescents, particularly those victimized by males, were up to 7 times more likely to self-identify as gay or bisexual than peers who had not been abused." Another study found that "Forty-six percent of the homosexual men in contrast to 7% of the heterosexual men reported homosexual molestation. Twenty-two percent of lesbian women in contrast to 1% of heterosexual women reported homosexual molestation."