The Role of Shame and Attributional Style in Children's and Adolescents' Adaptation to Sexual Abuse

Feiring, Candice; Taska, Lynn S.; Lewis, Michael

doi:10.1177/1077559598003002007

Cited by 132 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…While literature on gender differences in the manifestation of behavior problems suggests girls are more likely to experience internalizing problems than are boys (e.g., Cutler & Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991), the findings for sexually abused samples are inconsistent (Friedrich et al, 1986;Kolko et al, 1988;Livings-ton, 1987;Tong et al, 1987). This maybe in part, due to the fact that majority of studies to date have not examined boys and girls in the same study, making comparisons difficult (Feiring et al, 1998). Nonetheless, sexually abused girls may be more likely than boys to exhibit more PTSD symptoms following CSA Wolfe et al, 1991), including sexual anxiety (the feeling that sex is dirty) (Feiring et al, 1998).…”

Section: Risk Factors At the Ontogenic Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This maybe in part, due to the fact that majority of studies to date have not examined boys and girls in the same study, making comparisons difficult (Feiring et al, 1998). Nonetheless, sexually abused girls may be more likely than boys to exhibit more PTSD symptoms following CSA Wolfe et al, 1991), including sexual anxiety (the feeling that sex is dirty) (Feiring et al, 1998). More research on the role of gender in the display of sexual behavior problems specifically is needed.…”

Section: Risk Factors At the Ontogenic Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding child sexual behavior problems: A developmental psychopathology framework

Elkovitch

Latzman

Hansen

et al. 2009

Clinical Psychology Review

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Children exhibiting sexual behavior have increasingly gained the attention of child welfare and mental health systems, as well as the scientific community. While a heterogeneous group, children with sexual behavior problems consistently demonstrate a number of problems related to adjustment and overall development. In order to appropriately intervene with these children, a comprehensive understanding of etiology is imperative. The overarching goal of the present paper is to review the extant research on mechanisms associated with the development of problematic sexual behavior in childhood within a developmental psychopathology framework. What is known about normative and nonnormative sexual behavior in childhood is reviewed, highlighting definitional challenges and age-related developmental differences. Further, the relationship between child sexual abuse and child sexual behavior problems is discussed, drawing attention to factors impacting this relationship. Risk factors for child sexual behavior problems, beyond that of sexual abuse, are also reviewed utilizing a transactional-ecological framework. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of implications of a developmental psychopathology perspective on problematic child sexual behaviors to inform future research and intervention efforts. Such implications include the need for attention to normative childhood sexual behavior, developmental sensitivity, and examinations of ecological domain in concert.

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Section: Risk Factors At the Ontogenic Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Risk Factors At the Ontogenic Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding child sexual behavior problems: A developmental psychopathology framework

Elkovitch

Latzman

Hansen

et al. 2009

Clinical Psychology Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Using each abuse characteristic as a separate predictor (as was done in the abuse discovery analyses; see Feiring et al, 1998) would not have left sufficient degrees of freedom to examine longitudinal direct and moderator-mediator effects of the process variables. To obtain a summary measure of abuse severity, we calculated a score based on characteristics of the abuse that research suggests are related to poor outcomes and that are rated by professionals as being of greater severity (Chaffin, Wherry, Newlin, Crutchfield, & Dykman, 1997;Kendall-Tackett et al, 1993).…”

Section: Sexual Abuse Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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-esteem (e.g., Ackerman, Newton, McPherson, Jones, & Dykman, 1998;Boney-McCoy & Finkelhor, 1995;Feiring, Taska, & Lewis, 1998;Kendall-Tackett, Williams, & Finkelhor, 1993;Widom, 1999). However, CSA victims vary widely in their adjustment; some show significant levels of symptoms and poor self-esteem, whereas others do not (Ackerman et al, 1998;Kendall-Tackett et al, 1993).…”

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confidence: 99%

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

Feiring¹,

Taska²,

Lewis³

2002

Developmental Psychology

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221

190

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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

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“…Although attributions for abuse events are likely to change as individuals gain more distance from the time in their lives when the abuse occurred most of the research on abuse-specific attributions is crosssectional. This article examines the nature of abuse-specific attributions over six years in a sample first evaluated soon after the abuse was reported to child protective services (Feiring, Taska, & Lewis, 1998). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Childhood sexual abuse and abuse-specific attributions of blame over 6 years following discovery

Feiring

Cleland

2007

Child Abuse & Neglect

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Objective-The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of change in attributions for childhood sexual abuse (CSA) over a 6-year period and whether such patterns were related to abuse severity, age, gender, and subsequent symptoms of depression and PTSD.Methodology-One-hundred and sixty children, 8-15 years old, were interviewed within 8 weeks of the time the CSA was reported to child protective services (i.e., the time of abuse discovery). Follow-up interviews were conducted 1-year later on 147, and 6 years later on 121 of the original participants. Abuse-specific attributions were obtained using two methods. Participants first responded to an open-ended interview question about why they believed the CSA had happened to them and then completed a rating scale about the extent to which possible attributions for the CSA applied to them (e.g., "Because I was not smart enough").Results-Over time, perpetrator-blame attributions were consistently more common than selfblame attributions for CSA (using both interview and rating measures). Youth were more likely to report self-blame attributions on the rating measure than the open-ended interview question. The interview method indicated that youth often felt confused about why the abuse happened up to a year following discovery but this response diminished by the third assessment. On average, ratings of perpetrator-blame attribution remained high over time (p<.05), whereas ratings of self-blame decreased (p<.01). Penetration was related to more self-blame (p<.05) and less perpetrator-blame (p<.05), and the use of force was related to more perpetrator-blame. The initial level of self-blame attribution ratings predicted subsequent symptoms of depression (p<.05) and intrusive experiences (p<.05) after controlling for age at abuse discovery, gender, and self-blame attributions for common events. Perpetrator-blame attributions were not related to symptoms.Conclusions-The findings of this study suggest that assessing responses to open-ended interview questions about the perceived reasons for the abuse and ratings of attributions are important for understanding how youth make sense of their abuse. Abuse-specific self-blame attributions at abuse discovery have a persistent effect on internalizing symptoms and should be assessed and the target of treatment as soon as possible after CSA has been reported to the authorities.

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The Role of Shame and Attributional Style in Children's and Adolescents' Adaptation to Sexual Abuse

Cited by 132 publications

References 56 publications

Understanding child sexual behavior problems: A developmental psychopathology framework

Understanding child sexual behavior problems: A developmental psychopathology framework

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

Childhood sexual abuse and abuse-specific attributions of blame over 6 years following discovery

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