Maternal variables related to sexually abused children's functioning

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore how mothers' developmen tal history and current functioning affects their sexually abused children' s functioning and recovery. Method: A sample of 67 African-American mothers and their sexually abused c hildren participated in this study. Interviews and a range of adult and chi ld measures were administered in order to assess maternal developmental his tory and current functioning, and child functioning. Results: Mothers' past experiences as children were associated with their c hildren's behavior and general functioning following the sexual abuse. Moth ers who experienced more discontinuity of childhood care, who were sexually abused as children, and/or had more problems in their family of origin had children who showed poorer functioning and more behavioral symptomatology. In addition, mothers who currently were experiencing more trauma symptomat ology, reported substance abuse, and/or were less able to provide support t o their children, had children with more behavior problems and poorer funct ioning. Conclusions: The findings from this study point to the impact of mothers' d evelopmental history and current functioning upon the symptomatology of the ir sexually abused children. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights rese rved.