NCJ Number
217330
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 15 Issue: 4 Dated: 2006 Pages: 1-18
Date Published
2006
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study explored parental knowledge of child sexual abuse (CSA) symptoms.
Abstract
Results indicated that parents were more likely to identify emotional and behavioral symptoms of CSA than physical or sexual symptoms. Parents’ responses regarding physical symptoms, however, were consistent with the low frequency of physical evidence in CSA cases. The most commonly identified symptoms included fear, avoidance, and withdrawal from others. Parents of higher socioeconomic status identified more CSA symptoms than their lower socioeconomic counterparts. Race and parenting experience were not significantly related to knowledge of CSA symptoms. The findings suggest the need for parental education about all the symptoms of CSA. Parental education campaigns should especially target parents of lower socioeconomic status and should not exclude more experienced parents. Participants were 150 parents recruited from a pediatric clinic. Participants completed researcher-administered questionnaires that elicited open-ended responses about potential symptoms of CSA. Socioeconomic information was also gathered using the Hollingshead Four-Factor Index of Social Status survey. Interview data were coded according to CSA symptom category. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation analyses. Future research should explore the relative effectiveness of different methods of delivering a parental education campaign on CSA symptoms. Tables, references