NCJ Number
176186
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 22 Issue: 12 Dated: December 1998 Pages: 1285-1304
Date Published
1998
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study assessed the emotional and behavioral adjustment of parents and children in Ontario, Canada within 3 months and 1 year after the discovery of child sexual abuse perpetrated by someone outside the family.
Abstract
The participants included 63 mothers, 29 fathers, and 56 children in cases of child sexual abuse, as well as 74 mothers, 62 fathers, and 75 children in a nonclinical comparison group. Parent adjustment was assessed using self-report measures, while child functioning was assessed using a combination of child-report, parent-report, and teacher-report measures. Results revealed that mothers, fathers, and sexually abused children experienced clinically significant effects both initially and at 12 months after disclosure. Children's perceptions of self-blame and guilt for the abuse and the extent of traumatization predicted their self-reported symptomatology at 3 months and 1 year after disclosure. Child age and gender also significantly contributed to the prediction of many of the child outcome measures. No abuse-related variable was related to any child self-report measure. Mothers' satisfaction in the parenting role, perceived support, and intrusive symptoms predicted their initial emotional functioning. Avoidant symptoms, child's internalizing behavior, and mothers' initial emotional functioning were significant predictors of longer-term emotional functioning. Findings emphasize the need to address children's abuse-related attributions and underscore the need to expand the focus beyond the child victims to the traumatized families. Tables, figure, and 72 references (Author abstract modified)