NCJ Number
178830
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: 1999 Pages: 3-25
Date Published
1999
Length
23 pages
Annotation
A sample of 84 college women who retrospectively reported childhood sexual abuse (including 19 who experienced more severe abuse and 65 who experienced less severe abuse) and 285 women who failed to report such a history participated in a study designed to investigate the relationship between victimization history and locus of control as well as the role of locus of control in predicting the adjustment of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
Abstract
The data-collection instruments used were the Life Experiences Questionnaire, which measured demographics and childhood sexual experiences; the Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, which measured internal and external locus of control; and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, which assessed nine primary symptom dimensions. Analyses did not detect differences in the locus of control of victims and nonvictims, and no relationship was found between a woman's perception of control over the victimization experience and her later locus of control. Results did show that locus of control and victimization status interacted in predicting women's symptoms severity as well as problems such as depression, anxiety, and hostility. Women with a severe abuse history with an internal locus of control reported somewhat lower levels of distress than other women. Women with severe abuse and an external locus of control reported extremely elevated levels of distress, levels of distress greater than women in any other group. Implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations for future research are discussed. 3 tables, 1 figure, and 41 references