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DOI: 10.1177/1077559507305997 © 2007 SAGE Publications Psychosocial Characteristics of Nonoffending Mothers of Sexually Abused Girls: Findings From a Prospective, Multigenerational StudyUniversity of Southern California, kihyunki{at}usc.edu
University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
University of Southern California This study examined psychosocial characteristics of nonoffending mothers of sexually abused girls. The sample consisted of 72 ethnically diverse mothers of sexually abused girls aged 6 to 16 years, and 55 mothers of girls who were demographically similar with the abused girls on age, socioeconomic status, and family constellation. The variables examined included measures of the mothers' childhood developmental histories and current functioning (e.g., depression, parenting), as well as their current family environment. The specific questions addressed were (a) whether mothers of sexually abused girls could be distinguished from mothers of comparison girls on various psychosocial characteristics and (b) whether three subgroups of mothers (i.e., mother and daughter sexually abused, daughter-only abused, neither mother nor daughter abused) would exhibit different patterns of psychosocial characteristics. Results show that nonoffending mothers of sexually abused girls may confront considerable psychosocial challenges following the disclosure of their daughters' sexual abuse and that mother's own childhood abuse experiences may be an important factor to understand these challenges.
Key Words: child sexual abuse nonoffending mothers maternal development history maternal psychosocial functioning family environment
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