ERIC Number: EJ780082
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 18
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0145-2134
EISSN: N/A
Childhood Sexual Abuse and Abuse-Specific Attributions of Blame over 6 Years Following Discovery
Feiring, Candice; Cleland, Charles
Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal, v31 n11-12 p1169-1186 Nov-Dec 2007
Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of change in attributions for childhood sexual abuse (CSA) over a 6-year period and whether such patterns were related to abuse severity, age, gender, and subsequent symptoms of depression and PTSD. Methodology: One-hundred and sixty children, 8-15 years old, were interviewed within 8 weeks of the time the CSA was reported to child protective services (i.e., the time of abuse discovery). Follow-up interviews were conducted 1-year later on 147, and 6 years later on 121 of the original participants. Abuse-specific attributions were obtained using two methods. Participants first responded to an open-ended interview question about why they believed the CSA had happened to them and then completed a rating scale about the extent to which possible attributions for the CSA applied to them (e.g., "Because I was not smart enough"). Results: Over time, perpetrator-blame attributions were consistently more common than self-blame attributions for CSA (using both interview and rating measures). Youth were more likely to report self-blame attributions on the rating measure than the open-ended interview question. The interview method indicated that youth often felt confused about why the abuse happened up to a year following discovery but this response diminished by the third assessment. On average, ratings of perpetrator-blame attribution remained high over time (p less than 0.05), whereas ratings of self-blame decreased (p less than 0.01). Penetration was related to more self-blame (p less than 0.05) and less perpetrator-blame (p less than 0.05), and the use of force was related to more perpetrator-blame. The initial level of self-blame attribution ratings predicted subsequent symptoms of depression (p less than 0.05) and intrusive experiences (p less than 0.05) after controlling for age at abuse discovery, gender, and self-blame attributions for common events. Perpetrator-blame attributions were not related to symptoms. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that assessing responses to open-ended interview questions about the perceived reasons for the abuse and ratings of attributions are important for understanding how youth make sense of their abuse. Abuse-specific self-blame attributions at abuse discovery have a persistent effect on internalizing symptoms and should be assessed and the target of treatment as soon as possible after CSA has been reported to the authorities.
Descriptors: Sexual Abuse, Rating Scales, Children, Depression (Psychology), Attribution Theory, Attitude Change, Child Abuse, Age Differences, Gender Differences, Symptoms (Individual Disorders), Interviews, Correlation
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Inst. of Mental Health (DHHS), Bethesda, MD.
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A