Parent—Child Relationship and Mother's Sexual Assault History

Abstract

Although there is clinical conjecture regarding the effects of maternal trauma on parent- child relationships, research is scarce and this area remains to be explored. In a domestic violence sample, there was significant reduction in quality of parent-child relationships when the mother had experienced sexual assault or rape during adulthood. There was no correlation between the mother's history of childhood sexual assault or rape and parent-child relationship. Survivors of sexual assault may be best served through interventions that utilize relational models. Family-based interventions may be particularly effective in addressing problems in parent-child relationships stemming from the mother's trauma history.