The role of personality in childhood sexual abuse

The study proposes that childhood sexual abuse may be a more potent environmental risk factor than other types of trauma when interacting with a genetic predisposition to develop extreme scores on the extraversion, psychoticism, lie and impulsivity personality traits. The findings suggest that the interaction between a genetic predisposition to develop extreme scores on personality traits associated with anti-social behaviour and environmental risk factors, such as the experience of childhood sexual abuse, may underlie the intergenerational cycle of deviant parenting practices and abuse.