Predicting symptomatology and self-blame among child sex abuse victims.
Fifty-six sexually-abused girls and their nonoffending female caretakers from primarily low-income. African American families were comprehensively assessed in order to determine factors related to child symptomatology and self-blame. Girls whose overall relationships with their caretakers were somewhat negative exhibited more behavioral difficulties. Girls with disruptions in their relationship with a primary caretaker and who felt powerless as a result of the abuse were rated as functioning less well overall by clinicians. Child age, general attributional style, and caretaker blame of the child were related to child self-blame. Clinical implications of these findings include identification of clients at high risk for negative sequelae and development of interventions targeted at specific clinical issues.
Hazzard
A
A
Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA.
Celano
M
M
Gould
J
J
Lawry
S
S
Webb
C
C
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010553:Personality Development; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept; D012752:Shame