E. Deblinger et al., PSYCHOSOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND CORRELATES OF SYMPTOM DISTRESS IN NONOFFENDING MOTHERS OF SEXUALLY ABUSED-CHILDREN, Journal of interpersonal violence, 8(2), 1993, pp. 155-168
Citations number
30
Categorie Soggetti
Family Studies","Psychology, Social","Criminology & Penology
Three groups of nonoffending mothers of sexually abused children were
compared on 17 psychosocial characteristics. The groups were composed
of 36 (36.4%) mothers of children abused by partners (i.e., incest vic
tims), 30 (30.3%) mothers of children abused by other relatives. and 3
3 (33.3%) mothers of children abused by nonrelatives. Only physical ab
use by a partner differentiated the groups; mothers of children sexual
ly abused by a partner were more likely to report a history of domesti
c violence than mothers in either of the two other groups. Maternal se
lf-reported symptom distress was measured across all three groups usin
g the SCL-90-R. A multiple-regression analysis of the psychosocial cha
racteristics on the SCL-90-R's Global Severity Index indicated that a
mother's perceived aloneness in facing this crisis and a personal hist
ory of adult sexual assault were positively related to current symptom
distress. The implications of the present findings are discussed with
respect to future research and clinical work with nonoffending mother
s of sexually abused children.