Exploring the Relations Among the Nature of the Abuse, Perceived Parental Support, and Child's Self-Concept and Trauma Symptoms Among Sexually Abused Children

Abstract

This study examined two resiliency factors: self-concept and perceived parental support, in conjunction with abuse factors that impact psychological functioning. Data were collected on 61 sexually abused children prior to treatment. Findings indicate that a child's self-concept was associated with all the trauma symptoms except sexual concerns and did account for a significant amount of variance in relation to trauma symptomatology. Parental support was only associated with the Dissociation and was not found to account for variance in relation to trauma symptoms. Factors specific to the sexual abuse found that when a child endured a lengthy abuse period, their self-concept was more negative.