Abstract:
Adolescent sexual abuse has a harmful impact on identity development and various aspects of life.
Objective: This study aimed to identify statuses and dimensions of Rwandan adolescents ‘girls and examine the association between adolescent sexual abuse and different kinds of identity status or dimensions.
Method: This study used cross sectional study design. Chi square test was employed to determine the link between sexual abuse and identity development statuses as well as dimensions. A sample of 746 adolescents aged from 10 to 19 years composed of 373 sexually abused adolescents were recruited from 44 Isange One Stop Centers located across the country and a control group of 373 no sexual abused adolescents recruited from 5 secondary schools located in 4 provinces of Rwanda and Kigali city.
Results: This study finding elaborate that the prevalence rate of Identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium and achievement among sexually abused adolescents in Rwanda were 46(6.2%), 75(10.0%),102(13.7%) and 150(20.1%) respectively. While the prevalence rate of Identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium and achievement among non-sexually abused adolescents were 43(5.8%), 67(9.0%), 114(15.3%) and 149(20.0%) respectively. However, the p-value (p=0.748) showed that no significant association was found between sexual abuse and identity statuses developed by Marcia. The prevalence rate of Exploration in Breadth, Commitment Making, Exploration in Depth, Identification with commitment and Ruminative Exploration among sexually abused adolescents were 69(9.2%), 54(7.2%),71(9.5%),163(21.8%) and 16(2.1%) respectively. While the prevalence rate of Exploration in Breadth, Commitment Making, Exploration in Depth, Identification with commitment and Ruminative
Exploration among non-sexually abused adolescents were 75(10.1%), 46(6.2%),104(13.9%), 136(18.2%) and 12(1.6%) respectively. Results revealed that there is a significant association between history of sexually abused adolescents and identity dimensions developed by Luyckx (p=0.032, df=4, X2-value=10.122).
Conclusion: This study concluded that adolescent sexual abuse lead to identity development disorder. Further studies that focus on longitudinal study design are needed to study the natural history behind this phenomenon
