Emotional distress among mothers whose children have been sexually abused: The role of a history of child sexual, abuse, social support, and coping

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to investigate various psychosocial factors related to mothers' distress following their children's disclosures of sexual abuse. Specifically, the relationships between mothers' emotional distress and a maternal history of sexual abuse in childhood, a maternal history of sexual abuse in adolescence, social support and coping strategies were examined. Methodology: One hundred and two women whose children disclosed sexual abuse completed a sexual abuse history questionnaire, the Provision of Social Relations Scale, the Coping Responses Inventory, the Brief Symptom Inventory, and a questionnaire requesting descriptive data. Results: As predicted, results indicated that emotional distress was related to a maternal history of childhood sexual abuse, a maternal history of adolescent sexual abuse, a lack of support from friends and family, and greater use of avoidance coping strategies. As well, reliance on avoidance coping strategies was found to predict distress after controlling for both maternal child sexual abuse history and social support. Conclusion: The findings indicate that the distress experienced by mothers following a disclosure of sexual abuse is related to mothers' personal histories of child sexual abuse, the social support they receive, and the coping strategies they employ to deal with their children's disclosures. This study suggests that greater attention be given to psychosocial variables which can assist practitioners in explaining the variability in distress experienced by mothers and which might suggest potential interventions. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.