Interpersonal Rejection Sensitivity in Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors

Abstract

This study investigated whether interpersonal rejection sensitivity serves a mediating role between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and three long-term psychological correlates of CSA in adult female survivors: depressive symptoms, anger suppression, and attenuated emotional expression. Interpersonal rejection sensitivity has been shown to be a risk factor for the development of depression and is elevated in CSA survivors. Similarly, attenuated emotional expression, particularly anger, has been related to adjustment difficulties in CSA survivors. Participants in this study were 355 female undergraduates, 34 of whom reported a history of CSA. Results demonstrated that interpersonal rejection sensitivity mediates the relationship between CSA and later depressive symptoms. Interpersonal rejection sensitivity partially mediated the relationship between CSA and anger suppression; however, it did not mediate the relationship between CSA and attenuated emotional expression. These results are examined within the context of the current literature on adult CSA survivors and their implications are discussed.

Victimized at Home Revictimized by Peers: Domestic Child Abuse a Risk Factor for Social Rejection

“…Contrary to previous studies such as Chapple et al (2005) research on physical neglect and Luterek et al (2004) findings on sexual abuse, respondents in this study who experienced physical neglect (2% of the sample) and sexual abuse (3% of the sample) were not found to endure social rejection by their peers. One possible explanation for this finding may result from the fact that only 2 and 3% of the respondents reported experiencing either of these two types of abuse.…”

“…With regard to child sexual abuse, a large array of studies reported short and long-term psychological and social negative consequences of child sexual abuse such as depression, (Whiffen et al 2000) poor self-esteem (Freshwater et al 2001;Johnson 2004), avoidance behavior (Bal et al 2003) and social and adjustment difficulties (DiLillo 2001;Rumstein-McKean and Hunsley 2001;Luterek et al 2004). Others focused on the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and dissociative disorders (e.g., Silberg 1998).…”

An experimental examination of emotional experience, expression, and disclosure in women reporting a history of childhood sexual abuse

“…CSA survivors use emotional suppression and avoidance strategies (e.g., denial, wishful thinking, detachment) more generally (e.g., Batten, Follette, & Aban, 2001) and to cope with their abuse histories (Leitenberg, Greenwald, & Cado, 1992;Long & Jackson, 1993;Sigmon, Greene, Rohan, & Nichols, 1996). Finally, a CSA history has been shown to be related to anger suppression (Luterek, Harb, Heimberg, & Marx, 2004;Scott & Day, 1996) and attenuated emotional expressivity (Luterek et al, 2004) in adulthood.…”

Rejection sensitivity relates to hypocortisolism and depressed mood state in young women

“…The cortisol awakening response has been positively associated with prior-day feelings of loneliness, sadness, threat, and lack of control, and negatively with same-day levels of fatigue, somatic symptoms (Adam et al, 2006), and positively with same-day number of positive social contacts (Stetler and Miller, 2005). It has been hypothesized that the awakening ARTICLE IN PRESS 2 Interestingly, childhood physical, and especially sexual abuse, appears to be more common among hypocortisolemic syndrome patients (Wessely et al, 1999), and rejection sensitivity mediated the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and later depressive symptoms (Luterek et al, 2004).…”