NCJ Number
235057
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 35 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2011 Pages: 363-371
Date Published
May 2011
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study examined the effect of mothers' childhood sexual victimization experiences on their daughter's risk for sexual victimization.
Abstract
The study found that the effect of mothers' experiences with childhood sexual abuse affected their daughter's risk for sexual victimization, and that the effect was more direct if the mother's abuse occurred in childhood as opposed to after the age of 14. The decrease in the effect of the mothers' experiences with adolescent sexual victimization on their daughter's risk for sexual victimization was due to their daughter's perception that after the age of 14, their mother's had more control and greater approval of adolescent sexual activity. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of mothers' childhood sexual victimization experiences on their daughter's risk for sexual victimization. Data for the study were obtained via phone interviews from a sample of 913 mothers and their college-bound daughters at the time of the daughter's high school graduation. The mothers answered questions regarding their lifetime experiences of sexual victimization, while the daughters answered questions dealing with their experiences with adolescent sexual victimization and their perceptions of their mothers parenting skills. The mothers' parenting skills were evaluated in four areas: connectedness, communication effectiveness, monitoring, and approval of sex. The study found that a mother's sexual victimization experiences prior to adolescence had a more direct effect on a daughter's risk for sexual victimization than if the mother's victimization occurred after the age of 14. Findings also indicate that the mothers' parenting behavior mediated the effect of their sexual victimization on their daughter's risk for sexual victimization. Tables, figure, and references