NCJ Number
219679
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 31 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2007 Pages: 645-656
Date Published
June 2007
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study explored whether relationships with mothers and peers moderated the relationship between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and anxiety disorders.
Abstract
The results indicated that the association between CSA and the number of anxiety disorders was impacted by the mother-child relationships and peer relationships. Thus, while a main effect of CSA on anxiety disorders was found, the interactions between the quality of friendships and CSA helped ease the impact of the anxiety disorders. The effect of CSA on the number of anxiety disorders was significantly stronger when the quality of friendship was lower than when the quality of friendship was higher. The findings suggest that the processes within high quality relationships are important to how individuals cope with and understand their experiences. Future studies should use more specific measures of CSA that incorporate more characteristics of the abuse, such as severity and duration. Data were drawn from the National Comorbidity Survey, which used a stratified multi-stage area probability sample of 8,098 participants between the ages of 15 and 54 years. The current analysis is based on the subsample of 5,877 participants who completed the second part of the survey that measured sexual abuse, psychiatric symptoms, mother-child relations, peer relations, and parent characteristics. Data were analyzed using a series of hierarchical multiple regression models. Tables, figure, references