ABSTRACT
A study of 46 women with histories of childhood sexual abuse and a control group of 93 women without such histories showed an association between childhood sexual abuse and the women's symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as their perceptions of their families of origin. Results also suggested that family conflict, control, and cohesiveness moderated the relationship between the childhood abuse and current symptoms of depression.
Subject(s)
Anxiety Disorders/psychology , Child Abuse, Sexual/psychology , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Family/psychology , Personality Development , Social Environment , Adaptation, Psychological , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Female , Humans , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
This study investigated the effects of childhood sexual abuse and parental alcoholism in a sample of university women. Current symptoms of anxiety and depression were measured together with retrospective reports of subjects' families of origin. Using a 2 x 2 factorial design, main effects on symptoms were obtained for sexual abuse and parental alcoholism, but their interaction was not significant. With respect to family environment, a history of sexual abuse was associated with perceptions that families of origin had less cohesion, more conflict, less emphasis on moral-religious matters, less emphasis on achievement, and less of an orientation towards intellectual, cultural, and recreational pursuits. Similarly, subjects who had alcoholic parents reported less family cohesion, more conflict, and less emphasis on moral-religious matters. Results of analyses of covariance suggested that family environment was a mediator of current symptoms of anxiety, but not symptoms of depression.
