Time Of Abuse Research Articles

A Conceptual Framework for the Long-Term Psychological Effects of Traumatic Childhood Abuse

Although trauma is not an intrinsic part of all child abuse, the impact of some abuse may be best conceptualized from a traumatic stress perspective. The authors first propose three critical elements that make some abuse traumatic. They then describe the response at the time of trauma and the processes that lead to persistence of that response. Reexperiencing and avoidance are proposed as the core trauma responses, and six secondary and associated symptoms are also described. In addition, the influences on long-term adjustment of biological factors, developmental level at the time of abuse, severity of abuse, social context, and prior and subsequent life events are discussed. The authors' conceptual framework is applied to make specific predictions about the relationships between particular abuse characteristics and later symptoms, and research on adults with histories of child abuse and on abused children is reviewed for consistency with these predictions.

Recovered memories of abuse in women with documented child sexual victimization histories

AbstractThis study provides evidence that some adults who claim to have recovered memories of sexual abuse recall actual events that occurred in childhood. One hundred twenty‐nine women with documented histories of sexual victimization in childhood were interviewed and asked about abuse history. Seventeen years following the initial report of the abuse, 80 of the women recalled the victimization. One in 10 women (16% of those who recalled the abuse) reported that at some time in the past they had forgotten about the abuse. Those with a prior period of forgetting—the women with “recovered memories”—were younger at the time of abuse and were less likely to have received support from their mothers than the women who reported that they had always remembered their victimization. The women who had recovered memories and those who had always remembered had the same number of discrepancies when their accounts of the abuse were compared to the reports from the early 1970s.

Recovered memories of abuse in women with documented child sexual victimization histories.

This study provides evidence that some adults who claim to have recovered memories of sexual abuse recall actual events that occurred in childhood. One hundred twenty-nine women with documented histories of sexual victimization in childhood were interviewed and asked about abuse history. Seventeen years following the initial report of the abuse, 80 of the women recalled the victimization. One in 10 women (16% of those who recalled the abuse) reported that at some time in the past they had forgotten about the abuse. Those with a prior period of forgetting--the women with "recovered memories"--were younger at the time of abuse and were less likely to have received support from their mothers than the women who reported that they had always remembered their victimization. The women who had recovered memories and those who had always remembered had the same number of discrepancies when their accounts of the abuse were compared to the reports from the early 1970s.

Cognitive Correlates of Reported Sexual Abuse in Eating-Disordered Women

It is important to understand the cognitive processes associated with sexual abuse experiences to target treatment for the victims. Evidence to date suggests that those correlates are not yet adequately understood. This study describes an information-processing task that assesses the degree of attentional bias toward words with abusive connotations. In a group of eating-disordered women, this instrument was used to demonstrate that reported sexual abuse was associated with a greater cognitive bias toward abuse-related information. This attentional bias was associated with a greater level of specific self-denigratory beliefs as a result of the abuse. There were no similar associations with beliefs about the motivation of the abuser or of the victim at the time of abuse, or with beliefs about the present-day motives of others. Treatment implications are discussed, although this information-processing measure requires wider validation.

Family Environmental Characteristics as Risk Factors for Childhood Sexual Abuse

Identifying family environment characteristics that are risk factors for childhood sexual abuse is central to abuse prevention. In this study, 76 college students who reported a history of childhood sexual abuse and their siblings were compared to 76 age- and gender-matched controls and their siblings. All subjects completed the Family Environment Scale (FES) along with questions regarding family history and demographic characteristics. Utilizing multivariate logistic-regression techniques, parental absence was found to be the most powerful risk factor for childhood sexual abuse. The level of family conflict also contributed significantly to the prediction of sexual abuse. Several FES measures interacted with present age and/or age at the time of abuse to predict childhood sexual abuse.

Initial emotional response to childhood sexual abuse: Emotion profiles of victims and relationship to later adjustment

A sample of 137 college women's retrospective reports of childhood sexual abuse were examined in order to identify the emotional responses these victims experienced at the time of abuse and to investigate the relationship between these responses and the long-term effects of abuse. Results identified three important dimensions of responding including guilt/fear, anger/disgust, and positive emotions. Further, five groups of victims displaying unique emotion profiles were identified. These include: (a) guilty/fearful individuals, (b) low responders, (c) angry/disgusted individuals, (d) ambivalent individuals, and (e) positive individuals. It was determined that victims' responses to abuse were associated with abuse severity. Finally, victim's affective responses to abuse were related to subsequent adjustment. Individuals experiencing high levels of guilt/fear were identified as exhibiting poorer social adjustment than either individuals reporting primarily anger or disgust or individuals reporting low levels of all emotions. Possible mechanisms through which these experiences have their effects are discussed.

Mother's age and risk for physical abuse

It is widely believed that young mothers are at greater risk of engaging in physical abuse. However, this relationship is not clearly supported by previous empirical research. This study reexamines the issue using a nationally representative sample of 1,997 mothers. All analyses controlled for family income, race, number of minor children in the home, age of abused child, mother's education, and whether mother was a single parent. Physical abuse was measured with the Conflict Tactics Scales. Using mother's age at time of birth of the abused child, the younger the mother, the greater the rate of child abuse; however, there was not a significant relationship when mother's age was measured at age at time of abuse. Large families and minority group children were also found to be at greater risk of abuse. The paper discusses implications for further research and for prevention of child abuse.

Attrition in Batterers' Counseling: The Role of Social and Demographic Factors

This study was designed to assess the extent to which social and demographic characteristics predict noncompletion of therapy by spouse batterers. Characteristics that were significantly associated with noncompletion of treatment were employment status, relationship to victim, timing of abuse, arrest record, alcohol problems, motivation to terminate violent behavior, age, income, and age of partner. In combination, however, these factors only improve prediction of noncompletion by about 12 percent over what would be obtained by chance. Although not measured in this study, the anticipated responses of either the criminal justice system or the batterer's mate to termination of treatment are hypothesized to be key determinants of attrition.

48 IS INTRAUTERINE GROWTH RETARDATION A RISK FACTOR OF CHILD ABUSE?

Although it has been suggested that IUGR infants, with their more aversive cries and poorer interactive capabilities than normal infants, may be at an increased risk of child abuse, few data are available to either support or refute this hypothesis. Therefore, we conducted a case-control study to determine whether IUGR infants are at an increased risk of being physically abused. Cases were children who: (1) had been born at Yale-New Haven Hospital and were reported because of suspected abuse to the hospital's child abuse committee from Jan. 1974–Dec. 1979, and (2) had evidence of definite or probable physical abuse based on a “blinded” review of the incident by one of the authors. For each case, one control without evidence of abuse was chosen from the hospital's log of births and matched to the case by age, gender, race, method of payment for the hospitalization, and source of pediatric care. To be certain that an association between abuse and IUGR was not missed, 4 different definitions of IUGR were used. Infants were defined as having IUGR if they had either a ponderal index that was below the tenth percentile for gestational age using the Kansas City or Denver growth standards or a birthweight below the tenth percentile using the same two standards. We identified 117 case-control pairs that met the criteria for eligibility. The matched odds ratios for each of the four definitions of IUGR were less than one (ranging from 0.40 to 0.75). Thus IUGR infants occurred more commonly in the controls than the cases and therefore appeared to be at a decreased risk of abuse. The only significant matched odds ratio was for a low ponderal index according to the Kansas City standard (0.4. X2 = .60, p <.05). This result was not affected after controlling for possible confounding factors such as the mother's age or parity, or the child's age at the time of abuse. Based on this carefully designed study, we conclude that IUGR infants are not at an increased risk of physical abuse and may be at a decreased risk.

Abused children admitted to a pediatric inpatient service in Switzerland: A ten-year experience and follow-up evaluation

In a period of 10 years (1974–1983) 82 children were admitted to our pediatric in-patient service because of child abuse or neglect. In 1984 the records of these children were examined to obtain a follow-up of 34 children who were less than 10 years of age at the time of their admission for non-accidental trauma. Thirty-eight percent of these children were less than 2 years old at the time of abuse, 30% from 2–3 years (68% less than 3 years) and 32% between 3–10 years. The lesions were as described in the literature. There was a greater proportion of children of foreign origin than would be expected from the general population of Geneva. At the time of hospital admission the majority of the parents were legally married and the majority of the children were cared for at home by a parent or relative. The perpetrator in most situations remained unknown; universal denial was the rule and therapeutic treatment of the family difficult to establish. The general policy of the protective services in Geneva is to maintain the abused child with his biological family. Over time, however, there is a tendency for abused children to be either removed from their homes and placed in foster care or to receive stricter supervision within their families. A large proportion of the study children were experiencing school difficulties and attended special classes. A relatively large number had left the country, either with or without their parents. Risk factors recorded in the literature were identified: Social isolation experienced by families of foreign workers, intrafamilial violence, violence experienced by parents during their own childhood, post-natal separation of the infant or child from the mother, unemployment and drug or alcohol addiction appeared to be more potent risk factors than prematurity and early mother-infant separation.