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Making meaning of traumatic events: youths’ strategies for processing childhood sexual abuse are associated with psychosocial adjustment
- Authors:
- SIMON Valerie A., FEIRING Candice, MCELROY Sarah Kobielski
- Journal article citation:
- Child Maltreatment, 15(3), August 2010, pp.229-241.
- Publisher:
- Sage
The need to make meaning of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is common and often persists long after the abuse ends. Processing their abuse experiences allows youth to elaborate trauma memories into organised accounts and better tolerate negative emotions associated with abuse events. This study identified individual differences in the ways youth process their CSA and examined associations with psychosocial adjustment. The participants were part of a prospective longitudinal study of the consequences of child abuse. A sample of 108 youth with confirmed abuse histories enrolled in the study within 8 weeks of abuse discovery, when they were between 8 and 15 years old. Six years later, they participated in interviews about their CSA experiences, reactions, and perceived effects. Using a coding system developed for this study, youths’ CSA narratives were reliably classified with one of three processing strategies: Constructive (13.9%), Absorbed (50%), or Avoidant (36.1%). Absorbed youth reported the highest levels of psychopathological symptoms, sexual problems, and abuse-specific stigmatisation, whereas Constructive youth tended to report the fewest problems. Avoidant youth showed significantly more problems than Constructive youth in some but not all areas. The article concludes that interventions that build healthy processing skills may promote positive recovery by providing tools for constructing adaptive meanings of the abuse, both in its immediate aftermath and over time.
Sexual anxiety and eroticism predict the development of sexual problems in youth with a history of sexual abuse
- Authors:
- SIMON Valerie A., FEIRING Candice
- Journal article citation:
- Child Maltreatment, 13(2), May 2008, pp.167-181.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Youth with confirmed histories of sexual abuse (N = 118) were followed in this American longitudinal study to examine associations between their initial sexual reactions to abuse and subsequent sexual functioning. Participants were interviewed at abuse discovery (ages 8 through 15) and again 1 and 6 years later. Eroticism and sexual anxiety emerged as distinct indices of abuse-specific sexual reactions and predicted subsequent sexual functioning. Eroticism was associated with indicators of heightened sexuality, including more sexual risk behaviour and views of sexual intimacy focused on partners' needs. Sexual anxiety was associated with indicators of diminished sexuality, including few sexual partners and avoidant views of sexual intimacy. Age at abuse discovery moderated some associations, suggesting that the timing of abuse-specific reactions affects trajectories of sexual development. Findings point to the need for a developmental approach to understanding how abuse-specific sexual reactions disrupt sexual development and the need for early interventions promoting healthy sexual development.
Potential pathways from stigmatization and internalizing symptoms to delinquency in sexually abused youth
- Authors:
- FEIRING Candice, MILLER-JOHNSON Shari, CLELAND Charles M.
- Journal article citation:
- Child Maltreatment, 12(3), August 2007, pp.220-232.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Although childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has been linked to risk for delinquency, research is limited on the potential pathways from CSA to subsequent delinquent outcomes. A total of 160 youth from New Jersey in the United States with confirmed CSA histories were interviewed at the time of abuse discovery, when they were 8 to 15 years of age, and again 1 and 6 years later. The findings supported the proposed relations from stigmatization following the abuse (abuse-specific shame and self-blame attributions) and internalizing symptoms to subsequent delinquency through anger and affiliation with deviant peers. This longitudinal research suggests that clinical interventions for victims of CSA must be sensitive to these affective and cognitive processes and how they affect delinquent activity.
The persistence of shame following sexual abuse: a longitudinal look at risk and recovery
- Authors:
- FEIRING Candice, TASKA Lynn S.
- Journal article citation:
- Child Maltreatment, 10(4), November 2005, pp.337-349.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This study investigated persistence in abuse-related shame during a 6-year period. One-hundred-eighteen sexually abused youth were interviewed at the time of discovery, and again both 1 and 6 years later. Individuals high in shame 1 year following discovery were especially at risk for persistently high levels of shame 6 years later. Youth with high shame for the abuse at 1 and 6 years were the most likely to report clinically significant levels of intrusive recollections at 6 years. Persistent shame may explain failure to process the abuse and the maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. The findings from this longitudinal study suggest that shame as a consequence of childhood sexual abuse should be a focus of treatment.
Trying to understand why horrible things happen: attribution, shame, and symptom development following sexual abuse
- Authors:
- FEIRING Candice, TASKA Lynn, CHEN Kevin
- Journal article citation:
- Child Maltreatment, 7(1), February 2002, pp.26-41.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Considers the nature of specific attributions for sexual abuse and their relation to psychological distress over time. Participants (80 children and 57 adolescents) were seen within 8 weeks of discovery of the abuse and 1 year later. They described why they believed the abuse happened, rated the extent to which internal and external attributions for the abuse event applied to them, and completed measures of general attribution style for everyday events, shame for the abuse, and symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and self-esteem. Parents and teachers rated behavior problems. Abuse-specific internal attributions were consistently related to higher levels of psychopathology and were particularly important for predicting PTSD symptoms and parent and teacher reports of internalising behavior problems, even after controlling for age, gender, abuse events, and general attributional style. Shame also was an important predictor of symptom level and mediated the relation between abuse-specific internal attributions and PTSD symptoms. Part of the focus section 'Children's attributions about abuse'.
'Explaining why': a closer look at attributions in child abuse victims
- Authors:
- KOLKO David J., FEIRING Candice
- Journal article citation:
- Child Maltreatment, 7(1), February 2002, pp.5-8.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Introduces the special focus section 'Children's attributions about abuse', asserting there are at least 2 salient reasons to focus on these: abusive and traumatic experiences may alter children's basic assumptions about the self, close relationships, and broader social networks, maybe causing distress and functional impairment; and attributions about one's experiences are accessible and presumably modifiable. Discusses the complexity of studying abuse-specific attributions, outlining definitions and types, dimensions, and management issues. Summarises the perspectives of the articles in the section.
When love is just a four-letter word: victimization and romantic relationships in adolescence
- Authors:
- FEIRING Candice, FURMAN Wyndol C.
- Journal article citation:
- Child Maltreatment, 5(4), November 2000, pp.293-298.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Introduces the special focus section 'Victimization and romantic relationships in adolescence', discussing the importance of studying adolescent romantic relationships and of studying such relationships in victimised youth and the need to integrate the fields.
Stigmatization and the development of friendship and romantic relationships in adolescent victims of sexual abuse
- Authors:
- FEIRING Candice, ROSENTHAL Saul, TASKA Lynn
- Journal article citation:
- Child Maltreatment, 5(4), November 2000, pp.311-322.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Examines same- and other-sex friendship networks and perceptions of peer competence as functions of stigmatisation, defined as shame and a self-blame attributional style. Fifty-six sexually abused adolescents were seen at the time of abuse discovery and 1 year later. Higher self-blame attributional style for the abuse was related to more satisfaction with other-sex friends and less satisfaction with same-sex friends. More shame was related to less satisfaction with same-sex friends and to having a larger number of other-sex friends. Higher self-blame attributional style was related to perceptions of poorer peer acceptance and close friendship and to perceptions of poorer romantic appeal. More shame was related to lower perceptions of peer acceptance and close friendship. Results support the idea that abuse victims who experience higher levels of shame and self-blame attributional style feel less capable of forming satisfying relationships with peers, friends, and potential romantic partners. Part of the focus section 'Victimization and romantic relationships in adolescence'.
Dating violence through the lens of adolescent romantic relationships
- Authors:
- WOLFE David A., FEIRING Candice
- Journal article citation:
- Child Maltreatment, 5(4), November 2000, pp.360-363.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Discusses the particular form of relationship violence occurring during adolescence, a particulrly challenging development period. Covers the dynamics of adolescent intimate relationships, dating violence risk factors, and protective factors: involving youths as part of the solution. Part of the focus section 'Victimization and romantic relationships in adolescence'.
The role of shame and attributional style in children's and adolescents' adaptation to sexual abuse
- Authors:
- FEIRING Candice, TASKA Lynn, LEWIS Michael
- Journal article citation:
- Child Maltreatment, 3(2), May 1998, pp.129-142.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Examines the role of shame and a self-blaming attributional style as factors that can help explain the level of psychological distress in child and adolescent victims of sexual abuse. Regression analyses were used to examine how age at discovery, gender, abuse characteristics, shame, and attribution were related to depression, self-esteem, and traumatic events sequelae. As expected, shame and self-blaming attributions were strongly related to depression, self-esteem, and traumatic sequelae and accounted for significant variance even after age, gender, and abuse characteristics had been controlled.