Bennett, Marissa L.2020-06-022020-06-022015Bennett, Marissa L. (2015). Positive mental health in adults reporting sexual abuse in childhood. Masters Thesis. Memorial University of Newfoundland.https://core.ac.uk/reader/77997130http://hdl.handle.net/11212/4745The purpose of this study was to investigate whether ahistory of child sexual abuse can impact Positive Mental Health in Canadian adults and how frequency of child sexual abuse as well as perceived social support impactPositive Mental Health scoresfor this population. Data wascollected fromthe Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health2012 and included asample of20,529 adults aged 18 and older, living across tenprovinces. A one-way ANOVAshoweda significant difference betweenPositive Mental Health scores for individuals reporting a history of child sexual abuse compared to those reportingno history of child sexual abuse. A regression analysis found that reported frequency of child sexual abuse did not significantly impact Positive Mental Health scores for individuals reporting child sexual abuse. It also found thatperception of social support waspositively related to Positive Mental Health scores and accounted for 25% of the variance in Positive Mental Health scores for individuals reporting child sexual abuse. The implications of these findings are discussedin this study. (Author Abstractenchild abusepsychological effectslong term effectsclinical caretelemental healthresearchInternational ResourcesCanadaArticle