NCJ Number
246794
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 38 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2014 Pages: 479-487
Date Published
March 2014
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study examined the convergence and divergence in mothers' and children's reports of maternal support following disclosure that the child (ages 7-17) had been sexually abused (CSA), with attention to the mothers' belief in the child's disclosure and mother-child discussion of the abuse.
Abstract
Whereas 62 percent of the 120 mother-child pairs converged in reports on the mothers' belief in the child's CSA disclosure (i.e., both mother and child reported that mothers "completely believed" the child's disclosure), 37 percent of mothers' and children's reports diverged, and the remaining 1 percent negatively converged (i.e. both reported that the mother only believed the child "somewhat"). The positively convergent responses were associated with youths' lower risk for tobacco and illicit drug use. Regarding whether details of the CSA were discussed, 44 percent of the mother-child pair reports converged (i.e., both reported that details of the CSA were discussed); 33 percent diverged, and 23 percent negatively converged (i.e., both mother and child reported that details of the CSA were not discussed). Negative convergent responses were associated with higher levels of trauma symptoms for the child following disclosure. Participants lived in the southeast region of the United States and were evaluated at a child advocacy center following reports of CSA. All the children were victims of sexual abuse that involved physical contact, and none of the mothers were involved or complicit in the sexual abuse. Of the final sample of 120 children, 85 percent were female, with an average age of 11.57 years old. Structured clinical interviews were used to obtain study data, and the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children was completed by the mothers in order to assess children's trauma symptoms. 1 table, 3 figures, and 51 references