Child abuse: betrayal and disclosure

The current study tested several hypotheses about disclosure of childhood sexual, physical, and emotional abuse derived from Betrayal Trauma Theory [Freyd, J. J. (1996). Betrayal trauma: The logic of forgetting childhood abuse. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press]. We predicted that the duration of time from abuse to its disclosure would vary as a function of victim-perpetrator closeness.

Data collected from 202 undergraduate participants using a survey methodology were submitted to logistic regression analyses. The relative variance explained by other variables was also examined.

Compared to survivors of emotional abuse (EA) who were in not very close (NVC) victim-perpetrator relationships, EA survivors in very close (VC) victim-perpetrator relationships were significantly more likely to wait 1 or more years to disclose, or never to disclose, than to wait a period of time less than 1 year (OR=2.65). Further, survivors of physical abuse (PA) in VC victim-perpetrator relationships were significantly more likely to wait 1 or more years to disclose their abuse, if it was disclosed at all, than PA survivors of NVC victim-perpetrator relationships (OR=3.99). Results for sexual abuse were not significant.

For EA and PA, VC victim-perpetrator relationships predicted longer durations of time from abuse to its disclosure than NVC victim-perpetrator relationships.

Although delayed disclosure may support necessary (albeit abusive) attachments with caregivers, it may also prolong the abuse and prevent receipt of support. Increased awareness that VC victim-perpetrator relationships may predict longer durations of time from abuse to its disclosure, and that these delays may serve a functional purpose, can help guide supportive and empathic responses to traumatic disclosures.