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Child extrafamilial sexual abuse: predicting parent and child functioning
I Manion1, P Firestone, P Cloutier
1Mental Health Patient Service Unit, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Canada.
Child Abuse & Neglect
|January 1, 1999
Summary
Parents and children affected by child sexual abuse experienced significant distress up to one year later. Addressing children's self-blame and family trauma is crucial for recovery.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Trauma Studies
- Family Therapy
Background:
- Child extrafamilial sexual abuse presents significant challenges for affected children and their families.
- Understanding the long-term emotional and behavioral impact is essential for effective intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the emotional and behavioral adjustment of parents and children post-disclosure of child sexual abuse.
- To identify predictors of adjustment in children and mothers at 3 months and 1 year.
Main Methods:
- Compared 92 families of sexually abused children with 136 nonclinical families.
- Utilized self-report measures for parents and a combination of child, parent, and teacher reports for children.
Main Results:
- Mothers, fathers, and abused children showed clinically significant distress at 3 months and 1 year.
- Children's self-blame, guilt, and traumatization predicted their symptoms.
- Maternal factors like parenting satisfaction and intrusive symptoms predicted their functioning.
Conclusions:
- Interventions should address children's abuse-related attributions.
- Support for the entire traumatized family system is necessary beyond focusing solely on child victims.