Adjustment following sexual abuse discovery: The role of shame and attributional style.

Abstract

This study examined adjustment following sexual abuse as a function of shame and attributional style. One hundred forty-seven participants (83 children and 64 adolescents) were seen at the time of abuse discovery and again 1 year later. Once adjustment at abuse discovery was accounted for, shame and attribution style explained additional variation in subsequent adjustment, whereas abuse severity did not. A pessimistic attribution style at abuse discovery moderated the relation between severity of abuse and subsequent depressive symptoms and self-esteem. The relations between abuse severity and these outcomes were significant only at high levels of pessimistic attribution style. Of note, patterns of change in shame and attribution predicted which children remained at risk or improved in adjustment. In addition, age and gender differences were found in adjustment over time.The past decade has seen a considerable increase in the number of studies focusing on sexual abuse and its relation to child outcomes. Child sexual abuse (CSA), in both clinical and nonclinical samples, has been consistently associated with a number of adjustment problems, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and poor self

The Relation of Child Maltreatment to Shame and Guilt Among Adolescents: Psychological Routes to Depression and Delinquency

“…Using coded narratives, Negrao, Bonanno, Noll, Putnam, and Trickett (2005 [this issue]) found higher verbal shame for those who disclosed childhood sexual abuse as compared to a nonabused group. Although Feiring et al (2002) report only a trend between abuse severity and shame about the incident at discovery, there was no relationship when examined prospectively. Other researchers measuring these more domain-specific or eventspecific feelings of shame (i.e., body shame, shame about a specific traumatic event) have reported finding a link between abuse and shame (Andrews, 1995;Andrews et al, 2000;Feiring & Taska, 2005 [this issue]).…”

Moral Emotions and Moral Behavior

“…Research over the past two decades consistently indicates that proneness to shame is related to a wide variety of psychological symptoms. These run the gamut from low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety to eating disorder symptoms, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal ideation , Ashby et al 2006, Crossley & Rockett 2005, Feiring & Taska 2005, Feiring et al 2002, Ferguson et al 2000, Ghatavi et al 2002, Harper & Arias 2004, Henderson & Zimbardo 2001, Leskela et al 2002, Mills 2003, Murray et al 2000, Orsillo et al 1996, Sanftner et al 1995, Stuewig & McCloskey 2005; see also review in Tangney & Dearing 2002). The negative psychological implications of shame are evident across measurement methods, diverse age groups, and populations.…”

“…In research studies of individuals who have experienced sexual abuse, shame has been consistently implicated in poor outcomes such as depression and PTSD symptoms (Feiring & Taska 2005;Feiring et al 1996Feiring et al , 2002Talbot et al 2004). Feiring & Taska (2005) have also found abuse-specific shame to be moderately stable across time.…”

Shame amplifies the association between stressful life events and paranoia amongst young adults using mental health services: Implications for understanding risk and psychological resilience

“…Shame is thought to arise when one perceives oneself as defective, experiences a sense of threat to the social self and a feels a need to hide (Feiring et al, 2002;Tangney and Dearing, 2003). It has been proposed that when experienced in response to specific situations and decisions, feeling shame can promote pro-social behaviours (de Hooge et al, 2008).…”