Emotion Dysregulation in Sexually Abused Preschoolers: Insights from a Story Completion Task

Child sexual abuse (CSA) during the preschool period can seriously undermine children's ability to develop emotional competency. Narrative tasks, such as the MacArthur Story Stem Battery (MSSB), are particularly adapted to gain a better understanding of young children's self-regulation processes. To explore the emotion regulation competencies of sexually abused preschoolers, we developed a coding grid and undertook a detailed analysis of abused and non-abused children's narratives using the MSSB. A sample of 62 sexually abused and 65 non-abused preschoolers 3½ to 6½ years old was recruited and children were presented with nine stories and an expressive vocabulary test. Analyses were performed to compare abused and non-abused children's narratives and to assess the contribution of CSA to children's narratives. CSA was associated with fewer demonstrations of empathy, help, and comfort, and less coherent and resolved stories. The narratives of CSA victims also included less emotions and emotional variations. The influence of CSA appeared the strongest in the stories involving fear. These findings suggest the presence of emotion dysregulation among sexually abused preschoolers, but also insecure attachment, and a sense of betrayal, isolation, and powerlessness.