FAMILIAL RISK-FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH INTRAFAMILIAL AND EXTRAFAMILIALSEXUAL ABUSE OF 3 TO 5-YEAR-OLD GIRLS

This study intended to identify familial risk factors which differenti ate sexually abused young girls from nonabused girls and, further, you ng victims of intrafamilial from those of extrafamilial sexual abuse. The subjects were 112 girls aged three to five years and their familie s. Forty-two were the victims of intrafamilial sexual abuse and 28 wer e victims of extrafamilial sexual abuse while 42 girls were not the vi ctims of abuse. The three groups of girls were matched for age. Compar isons indicated that the families of abused girls had less harmony and stability in the marital unit and were headed by less competent paren ts. Mothers in both abuse groups were significantly more likely to hav e experienced sexual abuse as children. For all comparisons, the intra familial group showed greater disadvantage and dysfunction than the ex trafamilial group. The intrafamilial group was differentiated from the extrafamilial group by worse spousal relationships, inadequate bounda ries in parent-child behaviour, father's history of physical abuse as a child and violent behaviour as an adult and maternal disapproval of the child victim. These findings suggest that child sexual abuse is re lated to a longstanding collection of interconnected adult personal an d relational deficiencies which result in inadequate parenting for the young victim.