This study examines the factors associated with the report of penetration in child sexual abuse cases. We reviewed the records of 1,885 children under age 18 who were evaluated at our facilities for possible sexual abuse. Multiple logistic regression was used to model the effects of a number of variables and their interactions concerning the child, perpetrator and abuse as they related to different types of penetration. Older children are more likely to report all types of penetration except for oral contact with the perpetrator's genitals. Assaults by strangers are more likely to result in penetration, as are abuse situations of longer duration.
Ethnicity is an important explanatory variable for both vaginal and rectal penetration.
Black girls are more likely to report vaginal penetration, whereas Mexican American children are more likely to report rectal penetration. Gender is also an important determinant, with boys being significantly more likely to report rectal and oral penetration. This study demonstrates that the child's gender, age and ethnicity, the relationship to the perpetrator and the duration of the abuse are all associated with the report of penetration in child sexual abuse. Such findings pose a challenge to the notion of collusion, which persists as an explanatory concept in clinical practice. The possibility of a broader conceptualization is explored.