NCJ Number
203490
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Dated: 2003 Pages: 39-65
Editor(s)
Robert Geffner Ph.D.
Date Published
2003
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This study looked at four groups of potential predictors of maternal support, which is considered a key factor for victims of sexual abuse in coping with the aftermath of abuse.
Abstract
Studies have shown that maternal support following the disclosure of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has been a vital component of the recovery process. Victims that did not receive support in response to their disclosure reported greater levels of symptoms and relational difficulties in adulthood. Currently, little is known about the factors that encourage or discourage a mother from believing her child and offering him/her emotional support and protection following a CSA disclosure. This study attempted to address this limitation by exploring potential predictors of maternal support in a group of adolescent sexual abuse victims. Past research has primarily focused on four variables: the mother’s relationship to the perpetrator, maternal history of childhood abuse, age of victim, and gender of victim. The present study focused on four categories of predictor variables: 1) maternal characteristics; 2) victim characteristics; 3) disclosure characteristics; and 4) abuse characteristics. The first goal of the study was to examine how maternal, victim, abuse, and disclosure characteristics’ influenced the maternal support available to a sample of adolescent victims of CSA. The second goal of the study was to examine whether the variables determined to be significant for the prediction of maternal support remained consistent when examined from both the maternal and adolescent perspective. Participants in the study were 120 adolescents (107 females and 13 males) aged 12 to 17, and their mothers, who were referred to Child Protective Services in the province of Quebec between 1996 and 1999 for evaluation following alleged sexual abuse. All participants were involved in substantiated cases of sexual abuse. Data were collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Results of the study revealed that the greatest number of predictors existed among the disclosure characteristics. The remaining three predictor categories (maternal, victim, and abuse characteristics) were found to have at least one predictor of maternal support from either the mothers’ perspective or the victims’ perspective. In addition, both the victims and their mothers saw four factors as representing significant predictors of maternal support: initial disclosure of abuse to the mother, perpetrator admissions of guilt, the mother living with the perpetrator, and maternal occupational status. One additional variable was found to predict maternal support from each perspective studied: confirmation by alternative sources was considered to be predictive from the adolescents’ perspective, while the quality of the maternal-child relationship was significantly correlated with maternal support from the mothers’ perspective. These findings underscore the importance of taking into account both the mother’s and the victim’s perceptions regarding psychological adjustment and family environment. 2 tables and 65 references