Mentoring as a protective factor: Exploring its impact on childhood sexual abuse survivors

Abstract

BackgroundMany survivors of childhood sexual abuse experience a wide range of deleterious psychosocial outcomes. Recent studies suggest that contextual factors – such as the survivor’s social interactions within their environment – may significantly contribute to post-abuse reaction. ObjectivesThe current study examines the influence of mentoring relationships and – along with individual contextual factors – and their impact on the social and emotional wellbeing of survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Participants and SettingThis study examines 150 respondents who reported experiencing sexual abuse and having a positive adult mentor in adolescence. MethodsUsing data from Wave III of The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health Study, a multiple regression analysis was applied to address the current study’s objectives. ResultsThe model was statistically significant, F(17,67) = 1.933, p = .03, resulting in 33% of the variance in social and emotional wellbeing (f2 = 0.49). The model yielded 6 significant predictors, including the age when the respondent was introduced to the mentor (β = 0.777, p = .04), current importance of the mentor (β = -0.381, p = .03), and length of importance (β = 0.958, p = .01) as well as age (β = -0.447, p = .04) and level of education of the respondent (βjuniorcollege = 1.07, p = .004; βprofessionaldegree = -0.674, p = .03). ConclusionsResults suggest that survivors of childhood sexual abuse have the potential to thrive in mentoring relationships, yet more exploration on mentorship and its processes for CSA survivors is needed to ensure effective intervention.