Childhood and Adolescent Sexual Abuse of Community Women: Mediated Effects on Psychological Distress and Social Relationships

Possible mediators of sexual abuse severity were tested on the basis of D. Finkelhor and A. Browne's (1985) traumagenic dynamics model with 178 low-income African American, European American, and Mexican American community women interviewed for Project HOW: Health Outcomes of Women. This subsam...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of consulting and clinical psychology 2004-12, Vol.72 (6), p.980-992
Main Authors: Kallstrom-Fuqua, Amanda C, Weston, Rebecca, Marshall, Linda L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescents
Adult
African Americans
Battered Women - psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child Abuse
Child abuse & neglect
Childhood sexual abuse
Children
Clinical psychology
Distress
Female
Females
Follow-Up Studies
Human
Human Females
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Interpersonal Relationship
Interpersonal Relationships
Low Income Groups
Low income women
Male
Medical sciences
Mental health
Mental illness
Mexican Americans
Middle Aged
Outcome Assessment, Health Care
Powerlessness
Predictor Variables
Psychological distress
Psychological Patterns
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Racial and Ethnic Differences
Residence Characteristics
Risk factors
Severity
Sex crimes
Sex Offenses - psychology
Sexual Abuse
Social Interaction
Social psychology
Social relationships
USA
Victimology
Women
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Summary:Possible mediators of sexual abuse severity were tested on the basis of D. Finkelhor and A. Browne's (1985) traumagenic dynamics model with 178 low-income African American, European American, and Mexican American community women interviewed for Project HOW: Health Outcomes of Women. This subsample reported contact sexual abuse before the age of 18 years. Severity was level of force, number of perpetrators, relationship to perpetrator, and age at first assault. As expected, structural equation modeling showed powerlessness, and stigmatization largely mediated the effects of sexual abuse severity on women's psychological distress in adulthood. Powerlessness also mediated the effects of severity on maladaptive social relationships. The expected path from betrayal to relationships was nonsignificant. Overall, the results support extension of D. Finkelhor and A. Browne's model. Possible interventions are addressed.
ISSN:0022-006X
1939-2117
DOI:10.1037/0022-006X.72.6.980