The mediating processes of revictimization after child abuse in a sample of adult women

Abstract

Women who survived abuse as children are more likely to be victimized again as adults. To date, this association, also referred to as revictimization, is not well understood. Several mediators have been identified as playing a role in this relationship. The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which revictimization following different types of maltreatment is mediated by difficulties in emotion regulation, attachment-related cognitions, self-efficacy, preference for dominant partners, self-assertiveness, sexual self-assertiveness, and abuse-related self-blame and shame. In an online survey, 135 women with a large variance of experiences of victimization (e.g., sexual, physical and emotional experiences of violence), separated by their occurrence during childhood and adulthood, were assessed. In addition, potential mediators were investigated. Mediation analyses based on bootstrapping tests showed that abuse-related feelings of self-blame and shame were the most consistent mediators of revictimization across all types of violence, with indirect effects ranging from .08 to .24. The prominence of self-blame and shame related to experiences of abuse as mediators in revictimization processes has significant implications for practice, particularly for the development of more effective approaches to preventing repeated violence.