NCJ Number
247189
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 38 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2014 Pages: 851-857
Date Published
May 2014
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Children who received medical evaluations after the disclosure of their sexual abuse were assessed for abuse-related behavioral and emotional symptoms and any links between these symptoms and abuse-related factors, family responses to the disclosure, and child self-blame for the abuse.
Abstract
Eighty-three percent of the children had at least one trauma symptom as measured by the Trauma Symptom Checklist in Children-Alternate; 60 percent had difficulty sleeping, and one-third had thoughts of self-harm. The child's age and abuse severity were associated with 3 out of 12 trauma symptoms; and abuse-specific self-blame was associated with 10 trauma symptoms, after controlling for other variables. The children of parents who did not completely believe the child's initial disclosure of abuse were twice as likely to experience self-blame compared with children whose parents completely believed the initial disclosure. These findings suggest that the medical screening of children for behavioral and emotional symptoms when sexual abuse is alleged should be assessed for self-blame and family responses to the child's disclosure of sexual abuse. In addition, parents should be informed about the importance of believing their child's initial disclosure of sexual abuse and of the impact this response has on the child's emotional response to the abuse. This retrospective review involved 501 children ages 8-17. In addition to the administration of the Trauma Symptom Checklist, data were obtained on each child's gender, ethnicity, and age; severity of abuse; abuser relationship to the child; and child difficulties with sleep, school, appetite/weight, sadness, and thoughts of self-harm. Children were also asked about whether their parents believed their abuse disclosure. 6 tables and 21 references