Childhood Sexual Abuse and Its Effects on Mothers
Child sexual abuse (CSA) refers to sexual involvement with a person less than eighteen years old. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; 2022), around one in four girls and one in thirteen boys experience CSA before their eighteenth birthdays. Overwhelmingly, the perpetrators of CSA are individuals who are well-known to the young person and their family. CSA is harmful because its victims lack of comprehension, cannot consent, or have not reached the appropriate developmental stage, and it can lead to long-term physical and emotional distress. Though the effects of CSA at the individual-level are well-documented, it is unclear how CSA victimization may impact mothers as they become parents and seek to prevent multigenerational victimization.
“90% of perpetrators of childhood sexual abuse are well-known to the family.”
A study assessed the impact of CSA and other forms of childhood adversity on parenting by surveying African-American women receiving public assistance (N = 483; Barrett, 2009). Women who had experiencing CSA (n = 54) reported lower rates of parental warmth, higher rates of psychological aggression, and more frequent use of corporal punishment as compared to women who did not report experiencing CSA. Parenting behaviors were affected by several different outside factors, including age at first child’s birth, race, marriage or cohabitation status, number of kids, and socioeconomic status, amongst others. However, even after controlling sociodemographic factors, CSA victimization was still linked to lower parental warmth. In addition to CSA, those who experienced childhood physical abuse (n = 126) and observed domestic violence (n = 159) reported significantly higher rates of psychological aggression. The findings suggest that parenting as a victim of any form of trauma is significantly more difficult as compared to those who have not experienced trauma.
Allbaugh et al. (2014) surveyed mothers who had experienced CSA (N = 60) to identify parenting concerns and attitudes. Survivor mothers reported having a variety of concerns surrounding their own ability to parent, including teaching appropriate body autonomy, approaching discipline in a safe and effective way, and expressing emotions without letting them interfere with the role as a parent. Lack of energy related to trauma recovery was an additional concern reported by the mothers.
“One in four girls experience childhood sexual abuse.”
Another study surveyed mothers who were survivors of multigenerational CSA (n = 9) whose children had also been victimized by CSA and suggested that CSA may affect all future relationships — especially parenting relationships (Baker, 2001). One-third of the women studied revealed that their own CSA was most clearly reflected in problems with their spouse and self-esteem. Additionally, they saw abusive patterns in themselves as mothers but did not know how to pursue change. Even so, the results of the study suggest that a deeper understanding of one’s own CSA trauma and its connection to the abuse of her child(ren) is a critical step in creating a safer environment for her family.
CSA is harmful, and mothers who are survivors of CSA may encounter a unique set of challenges in parenting behaviors, concerns, and attitudes (Allbaugh et al., 2014; Baker, 2001; Barrett, 2009). Barrett (2009) found a link between victimization and lower parental warmth, more frequent use of corporal punishment, and increased rates of psychological aggression for mothers who have experiences CSA. Safety, boundaries, and lack of energy were concerns that mothers who were victims of CSA reported to Allbaugh et al. (2014). Baker (2001) identified a promising therapeutic practice in that developing an understanding of the connections between the survivor’s CSA and that of her children is a critical step in creating a safer family environment. Further research is necessary to identify additional intervention strategies that will empower mothers to address the trauma of CSA and ultimately prevent it from ever taking place again.
References
Allbaugh, L.J., Wright, M.O., Seltmann, L.A. (2014). An exploratory study of domains of parenting concern among mothers who are childhood sexual abuse survivors. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 23(8), 885-899. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2014.960636
Baker, L. (2001). Multigenerational sexual abuse: A cognitive developmental approach to understanding mothers in treatment. Journal of Adult Development, 8, 59-41. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026449805197
Barrett, B. (2009). The impact of childhood sexual abuse and other forms of childhood adversity on adulthood parenting. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 18(5), 489-512. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538710903182628
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]. (2022). About Child sexual abuse. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/child-abuse-neglect/about/about-child-sexual-abuse.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childsexualabuse/fastfact.html.
