A longitudinal study of emotion regulation among sexually abused preschoolers

Boisjoli

Blais

et al. 2018

Psychiatry Research

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Background-Understanding factors influencing mental health of sexually abused teenagers is essential to orient treatment with this vulnerable population. The purpose of this study was to explore alexithymia as a mediator of the relationship between child sexual abuse and psychological distress using a representative sample of teenagers, while considering gender as a potential moderator.Methods-Teenagers participating in the Quebec Youths' Romantic Relationships Survey completed measures evaluating a history of child sexual abuse and alexithymia at baseline while psychological distress was evaluated 6 months later.Results-A moderated mediated model revealed a partial mediation effect of alexithymia in the relationship between child sexual abuse and psychological distress. Gender acted as a moderator as the conditional indirect effects of child sexual abuse on mental health via alexithymia were stronger for boys.Conclusion-Findings underscore the relevance of assessing and targeting sexually abused victims' capacity to identify and communicate emotions to promote well-being.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Alexithymia as a mediator of the relationship between child sexual abuse and psychological distress in adolescence: A short-term longitudinal study

Boisjoli

Blais

et al. 2018

Psychiatry Research

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“…The results also revealed that child victims showed less emotion regulation competencies than their peers. This extends the findings of the studies conducted with preschool victims of CSA (Langevin et al, ; Séguin‐Lemire, Hébert, Cossette, & Langevin, ), and highlight that sexual trauma impedes on the child's capacity to effectively manage and respond to emotional experiences. Authors have suggested CSA could also hinder the child's ability to identify and express emotions, namely alexithymia.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…This could allow the identification of different trajectories and factors that modulate these difficulties. As some studies suggest that sexually abused young boys may be particularly vulnerable to emotion regulation difficulties (Séguin‐Lemire et al, ), gender‐specific analyses should be conducted. Moreover, since emotion regulation did not completely mediate the relationship between CSA and social adaptation, it is possible that other variables, such as posttraumatic stress symptoms and externalizing or internalizing behaviors problems play a role in social adaptation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child victims of sexual abuse: Teachers' evaluation of emotion regulation and social adaptation in school

Amédée

Tremblay‐Perreault

Psychology in the Schools

et al. 2019

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This study assessed the social adaptation of sexually abused children and tested whether children's emotion regulation competencies mediated the association between child sexual abuse (CSA) and two outcomes of the social domain (i.e. withdrawal and social difficulties). A group of 283 child victims of sexual abuse and a comparison group composed of 60 nonabused children was recruited. Teachers completed questionnaires assessing the children's emotion regulation competencies, withdrawal, and social difficulties exhibited in the school context. Results showed that sexually abused children displayed poorer emotion regulation skills and higher levels of both withdrawal and social difficulties relative to nonabused children. CSA was associated with social difficulties and withdrawn behavior through the mediation of emotion regulation competencies. Teachers and school psychologists should be assisted in identifying children at risk of social difficulties and emotional dysregulation and schools be encouraged to adopt a trauma‐informed approach.

“…While no gender effect were found in the current models, it is still possible that some CSA correlates unfold or evolve differently in boys and girls over the course of longer periods of assessment. For example, the evolution of emotion regulation deficits and dissociation symptoms were found to be gender related in preschool victims of CSA over one year (Bernier et al, 2013;Langevin et al, 2015;Séguin-Lemire et al, 2017).…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cumulative childhood trauma, emotion regulation, dissociation, and behavior problems in school-aged sexual abuse victims

Journal of Affective Disorders

Langevin

Oussaïd

2018

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Background-Child sexual abuse is associated with a plethora of devastating repercussions. A significant number of sexually abused children are likely to experience other forms of maltreatment that can seriously affect their emotion regulation abilities and impede on their development. The aim of the study was to test emotion regulation and dissociation as mediators in the association between cumulative childhood trauma and internalized and externalized behavior problems in child victims of sexual abuse.Methods-Participants were 309 sexually abused children (203 girls and 106 boys; Mean age = 9.07) and their non-offending parent. Medical and clinical files were coded for cumulative childhood trauma. At initial evaluation (T1), parents completed measures assessing children's emotion regulation abilities and dissociation. At Time 2 (T2), parents completed a measure assessing children's behavior problems. Mediation analyses were conducted with emotion regulation and dissociation as sequential mediators using Mplus software.Results-Findings revealed that cumulative childhood trauma affects both internalized and externalized behavior problems through three mediation paths: emotion regulation alone, dissociation alone, and through a path combining emotion regulation and dissociation.Limitations-Both emotion regulation and dissociation were assessed at T1 and thus the temporal sequencing of mediators remains to be ascertained through a longitudinal design. All measures were completed by the parents.Conclusions-Clinicians should routinely screen for other childhood trauma in vulnerable clienteles. In order to tackle behavior problems, clinical interventions for sexually abused youth need to address emotion regulation competencies and dissociation.