PSYCHOSOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND CORRELATES OF SYMPTOM DISTRESS IN NONOFFENDING MOTHERS OF SEXUALLY ABUSED-CHILDREN

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.