The present study sought to increase current scientific knowledge
about the controversial issue of subjectively reported childhood
ritualistic abuse by addressing several key unresolved issues. In
particular, the possibility that those reporting ritualistic abuse may
be characterized primarily by the severity of their abuse histories or
the severity of their present psychological symptoms, rather than the
veridicality of the ritualistic events, was explored. Adult female
outpatients reporting childhood sexual abuse with ritualistic features
were compared with a second group of women who reported childhood
sexual abuse without ritualism. Measures included characteristics of
childhood sexual and physical abuse, current posttraumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) diagnostic status and symptom severity, and severity
of current dissociative experiences. Women reporting ritualistic
features scored significantly higher on measures of childhood sexual
and physical abuse. Neither PTSD diagnostic status nor severity for
PTSD nor dissociative experiences were significantly different between
the groups. While preliminary in nature, these results suggest that it
may be helpful to conceptualize reported childhood ritualistic abuse
as indicative of the need to assess carefully for severe abuse and its
predictable sequelae within existing traumatic victimization
conceptual frameworks.