NCJ Number
216576
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 21 Issue: 5 Dated: July 2006 Pages: 287-299
Date Published
July 2006
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study examined the individual and contextual factors related to outcomes in a group of children reporting sexual abuse (SA).
Abstract
Children who had been sexually abused exhibited greater internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and more sexualized behaviors than their same-age, non-abused peers. The findings suggest that interventions focusing on approach strategies, such as problem-solving or seeking social support, are unlikely to be effective. Instead, the authors recommend a focus on the reduction of avoidance-type coping strategies. Mothers of sexually abused children perceived them as less socially competent than their peers. Over half the sample reported internalizing behaviors such as withdrawal, anxiety, and depression as well as externalizing behaviors such as aggressiveness and delinquency. Victimized children reported relying on avoidance coping strategies, which appeared to predict the intensity of internalizing behavior problems, sexualized behaviors, and social competence problems. A comparison group of 63 children who had not been sexually abused was recruited from public schools in the same geographical region as the SA children. Parents completed self-reported measures assessing their child’s level of behavioral problems and aspects of family functioning. The two groups of children completed self-reported measures regarding their coping strategies and quality of sibling relationships. Data analysis included a series of MANOVA’s to assess differences in behavioral adjustment and social competence between the SA and comparison children. In order to inform intervention and treatment programs, researchers should continue to focus on the individual, family, and social factors that impact outcomes in SA children. Figure, tables, references