This investigation evaluated a theoretically specified model of associations among mothers' history of child sexual abuse (CSA), a helpless state of mind (SOM) with regard to the mother-child relationship, and increased behavior problems in the next generation. Moreover, we evaluated the moderating influence of child gender on predicted relations between mothers' CSA severity and helpless SOM (i.e., moderated mediation). Participants were 225 biological mother-preschooler dyads (48% female; 46.4% Latinx) drawn from an ongoing, longitudinal study of representation and regulation in child development. Mothers' history of CSA was assessed when their children were 4 years old and emerged as a prominent risk factor in this diverse, high-risk community sample with 40% of mothers reporting contact-based sexual abuse prior to age 18. Mediation analyses revealed a significant indirect pathway from a continuous rating of mothers' CSA severity to increased externalizing behavior problems from ages 4 to 8 in the next generation via mothers' helpless SOM at age 6. Further, this indirect path was significant for mother-daughter dyads, but not for mother-son dyads. This investigation contributes to the neophyte literature on intergenerational CSA effects by revealing the impact of a mother's CSA history on her SOM regarding the mother-child relationship, particularly when parenting daughters. Clinical interventions that enhance survivors' awareness of and reflection on their SOM regarding the parent-child relationship may attenuate intergenerational CSA effects on child adaptation.

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This study examined associations between child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors' self-definition status (i.e., whether or not survivors self-identified as sexually abused) and multiple measures of psychopathology, self-system functioning, and risk behaviors. We evaluated the hypothesis that survivors with concordant abuse perceptions (i.e., individuals who reported objective CSA and self-defined as sexually abused) would evidence more pronounced adjustment difficulties in young adulthood than survivors with discordant perceptions (i.e., individuals who reported objective CSA but did not self-define as sexually abused). In this large and ethnically diverse college student sample (N = 2,195; 63.8% female, 36.2% male; 83.3% nonwhite), objective experiences of CSA were associated with increased psychopathology, decreased self-system functioning, and increased risk behaviors, but the magnitude of these effects varied by survivors' selfdefinition status. Relative to their nonmaltreated peers, survivors with concordant abuse perceptions evidenced the largest elevations in psychopathology and risk behaviors, whereas survivors with discordant abuse perceptions evidenced the largest deficits in self-system functioning. These findings indicate that standard screening criteria may misidentify a sizable group of CSA survivors because these individuals do not perceive their experiences as "abuse." Efforts to understand the meaning ascribed to CSA experiences may profitably guide clinical interventions to enhance specific domains of functioning.

Evidence continues to accumulate on the influence of the menstrual phase on several biobehavioral outcomes (e.g., substance misuse). Expansion of this knowledge is limited due to the burdensomeness of accurate menstrual phase assessment. Thus, we sought to create and validate a questionnaire that can be used as a stand-alone item within low-resource settings and numerous study designs (e.g., cross-sectional) to accurately identify both the follicular phase (FP) and the luteal phase (LP). Participants completed the selfadministered four-item Menstrual Phase Identification Questionnaire (MPIQ) in two recently completed clinical trials. We assessed the accuracy of two MPIQ scoring criteria (less restrictive and more restrictive), as compared to self-report of onset of menses alone, with progesterone confirmation via dried blood spots. Participants (n = 59) were, on average, 33.7 (standard deviation [SD]: ±4.3) years old and provided a total of 83 responses. Assessing FP and LP using the self-reported onset of menses alone classified 65.1% of the responses with an overall phase identification accuracy of 60.2%. While the more restrictive MPIQ scoring classified 100% of the responses, it yielded a similar accuracy (68.4%). In contrast, the less restrictive MPIQ scoring classified 100% of the responses and also significantly improved phase identification accuracy to 92.1% ( p < .001). The MPIQ, as a stand-alone item, allows all cross-sectional responses to be classified with a high level of accuracy. This low-burden questionnaire can be used alone to identify FP and LP in studies that may be otherwise limited by study design, finances, and/or participant burden. Public Health SignificanceSelf-report of vaginal sensations and discharge plus the onset of menses improves the identification of follicular and luteal menstrual phases as compared to the self-reported onset of menses alone (60.2% accuracy vs. 92.1% accuracy; p < .001). The use of the Menstrual Phase Identification Questionnaire (MPIQ) alone will allow more biobehavioral research to identify follicular and luteal menstrual phases, especially research that may be limited by study design (e.g., cross-sectional), finances (e.g., unable to include hormonal biomarkers), and/or participant burden.