NCJ Number
138597
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 7 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1992) Pages: 306-319
Date Published
1992
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study tested the relative influence of relationship variables in the family of origin and sexual abuse characteristics in the prediction of the long-term adjustment of child sexual-abuse survivors.
Abstract
A total of 103 subjects, 45 of whom had histories of sexual abuse, completed self-report measures of perceived parental conflict, paternal dominance, current psychological distress, social support and dyadic relationships, and a questionnaire on their experiences of childhood sexual abuse. The instruments used were the Interparental Conflict Scale, the Traditional Family Ideology Scale, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, the Social Support Questionnaire, and the Interpersonal Relationship Scale. People with histories of sexual abuse reported greater parental conflict than did their nonabuse counterparts. On the basis of multiple regression analyses, in which sexual abuse variables and family variables were entered simultaneously, parental conflict, paternal dominance, and sexual abuse made independent contributions to subjects' psychosocial adjustments. These findings support the importance of family relationships in the long-term adjustment of victims of both intrafamilial and extrafamilial child sexual abuse. 3 tables and 33 references