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Characteristics of Mothers of Boys Who Sexually Abuse

Children's National Medical Center

Jim Stevenson

University of Southampton

David Skuse

Institute of Child Health, University of London

Depression, child abuse histories, and current attributions were investigated for 80 mothers of boys in three abuse referral groups (victimized perpetrators, nonvictimized perpetrators, and victim only) in comparison with a group of boys showing externalizing behaviors. During semistructured interviews with mothers, child abuse histories were elicited and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was administered. The Leeds Attributional Coding System (LACS) was used to code spoken attributions from verbatim interview transcripts. Sexual victimization in their own childhood was reported by 55% of mothers of perpetrators and 30% of mothers of victims; high rates of domestic violence were reported by both mothers of perpetrators (72%) and mothers of victims (50%). There were no significant group differences on BDI scores. Mothers of the externalizing comparison group showed "low perceived control" in their attributions for negative events and blamed their sons for negative events significantly more than those of the three case groups (p < .05). The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for clinical interventions and research.

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