SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN COPING WITH SEXUAL ABUSE - ABUSE STRESSES AND SYMPTOMS ASSOCIATED WITH 4 COPING STRATEGIES

Strategies used by 84 sexually abused children, ages 7 to 12, to cope with their abuse were evaluated, along with child reported abuse-relat ed symptoms, parent-reported behavioral symptoms, and teacher-reported behavioral symptoms. Principal components analysis of coping yielded four strategies that were labeled avoidant coping, internalized coping , angry coping, and active/social coping. Each coping strategy was fou nd to be associated with a unique set of abuse characteristics, abuse related social environment, and symptoms,In contrast to findings with adult survivors and adolescents, use of avoidant coping strategies amo ng school-age children was found to be related to fewer behavioral pro blems, although it was also associated with greater sexual anxieties. Internalized coping was found to be associated with increased guilt an d PTSD hyperarousal symptoms. Active/social coping was the only strate gy found to be unrelated to symptoms, but neither was it associated wi th measured benefits. In contrast to some clinical opinion that extern alizing blame and venting anger is a helpful strategy, angry coping wa s found to be associated with a wide range of behavioral and emotional problems as rated by the child's home-room school teacher. Results ar e discussed in terms of a proposed mediational model. Copyright (C) 19 97 Elsevier Science Ltd.