Exploring the Relations Among the Nature of the Abuse, Perceived Parental Support, and Child's Self-Concept and Trauma Symptoms Among Sexually Abused Children

Abstract

This study examined two resiliency factors: self-concept and perceived parental support, in conjunction with abuse factors that impact psychological functioning. Data were collected on 61 sexually abused children prior to treatment. Findings indicate that a child's self-concept was associated with all the trauma symptoms except sexual concerns and did account for a significant amount of variance in relation to trauma symptomatology. Parental support was only associated with the Dissociation and was not found to account for variance in relation to trauma symptoms. Factors specific to the sexual abuse found that when a child endured a lengthy abuse period, their self-concept was more negative.

Parental Support Provided by Nonoffending Caregivers to Sexually Abused Children: A Comparison Between Mothers and Fathers

“…This nonspecific support takes into account that CSA disclosure does not occur within a vacuum, as children already have interaction and supportive aspects in their relationship with their parents. This nonspecific support was measured through the level of expressed affection and acceptation toward the child, the quality of the relationship (Esparza, 1993;Lovett, 1995;Spaccarelli & Kim, 1995), and by a measure of general support (Reyes, 2008;Tremblay, Hébert, & Piché, 1999). For this reason, educative parental practices such as parental caring and punitive actions, which reflect the day-to-day interactions of the parent with their child to support them in their development, are also relevant.…”

“…In addition, Cyr et al (2003) observed that two thirds of mothers agreed to use professional services for their child. With regard to nonspecific support, two studies revealed that mothers were perceived by half of their teenage girls as offering caring often or most of the time , whereas children and adolescents reported nonspecific parental support scores that fell within the normative sample range (Reyes, 2008).…”

Maternal Support as a Predictor of Children’s Sexualized Behaviors Following Childhood Sexual Abuse

“…Children’s sexualized difficulties were examined in only nine studies and were not significantly related to support. Of note, several of these studies included small sample sizes (e.g., Cohen & Mannarino, 2000; Leifer & Shapiro, 1995; Paredes et al, 2001; Thériault et al, 2003) and did not utilize an instrument that thoroughly assessed SBPs (e.g., Reyes, 2008; Thériault et al, 2003), such as the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory (CSBI, Friedrich et al, 1992). Nonetheless, at this time, it is inaccurate to assert that support plays a large role in predicting children’s trauma-related symptoms, and the relationship between support and sexual behaviors appears even more tenuous, if an association exists at all.…”

A Salutogenic Approach to Healing Following Child Sexual Assault

“…Adding to the understanding of pathology are an array of established mediating and moderating variables known to increase the risk of harm and suffering after experiencing CSA. Abuse-specific variables of a longer duration (Reyes, 2008), a familial offender (Zinzow et al, 2010), more intrusive abuse (Nelson et al, 2002), and subjective distress at time of abuse (Briere & Elliott, 2003) have all been shown to cause more distress and impairment. When an individual discloses their abuse, as well as how it is responded to, makes a difference to psychological outcomes.…”

“…It seems for any measured variable found to show an association with negative outcomes, another study will show the opposite. Age at the beginning of abuse, a closely related offender, longer duration of abuse, the use of force to elicit abuse acts, and a lack of support following disclosure, have all been shown to be related to greater levels of symptomology at time of measurement (O'Leary et al, 2010;Reyes, 2008;Zinzow et al, 2010). However, studies can also be found that show no such associations (see Paolucci et al, 2001).…”