This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Leifer, M. Articles by Grossman, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Leifer, M. Articles by Grossman, G. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

A Three-Generational Study Comparing the Families of Supportive and Unsupportive Mothers of Sexually Abused Children

Illinois School of Professional Psychology

Teresa Kilbane

Loyola University of Chicago

Gail Grossman

Cook County Hospital

This three-generational study investigated family histories of attachment relationships and abusive experiences as well as current functioning of family members that differentiate supportive from unsupportive mothers of sexually abused children. Interviews and standardized adult and child measures were administered to a sample, including (a) 99 nonoffending African American mothers and their children aged 4 to 12 years, of whom 61 mothers were classified as supportive and 38 were classified as unsupportive, and (b) 52 grandmothers, of whom 33 were the mothers of supportive mothers and 19 were the mothers of unsupportive mothers. The authors' findings indicate that a history of conflicted and/or disrupted attachment relationships between grandmother and mother, and mother and child, and less support provided by the grandmother to the child characterize families in which sexually abused children do not receive maternal support. Also, nonsupportive mothers showed more substance abuse, criminal behaviors, and problematic relationships with male partners.

Child Maltreatment, Vol. 6, No. 4, 353-364 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/1077559501006004008


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. Kim, J. G. Noll, F. W. Putnam, and P. K. Trickett Psychosocial Characteristics of Nonoffending Mothers of Sexually Abused Girls: Findings From a Prospective, Multigenerational Study Child Maltreat, November 1, 2007; 12(4): 338 - 351. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Leifer, T. Kilbane, and S. Kalick Vulnerability or Resilience to Intergenerational Sexual Abuse: The Role of Maternal Factors Child Maltreat, February 1, 2004; 9(1): 78 - 91. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. DiLillo and A. Damashek Parenting Characteristics of Women Reporting a History of Childhood Sexual Abuse Child Maltreat, November 1, 2003; 8(4): 319 - 333. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. M. Bolen and J. L. Lamb Guardian Support of Sexually Abused Children: A Study of its Predictors Child Maltreat, August 1, 2002; 7(3): 265 - 276. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. N. Elliott and C. N. Carnes Reactions of Nonoffending Parents to the Sexual Abuse of their Child: A Review of the Literature Child Maltreat, November 1, 2001; 6(4): 314 - 331. [Abstract] [PDF]