The reformulated theory of helplessness and depression and child sexual abuse
Based on the reformulated theory of helplessness and depression, this study examined the relationship between sexually abused children's attributional style, attributions about the cause of their own sexual abuse, and adjustment in terms of level of depressive symptomatology, internalizing symp...
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| Format: | Dissertation |
| Language: | English |
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ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
01-01-1993
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| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Based on the reformulated theory of helplessness and depression, this study examined the relationship between sexually abused children's attributional style, attributions about the cause of their own sexual abuse, and adjustment in terms of level of depressive symptomatology, internalizing symptomatology, and self-concept. In addition, the study investigated whether the children's attributions about the cause of their sexual abuse were related to the nature of the sexual abuse or other post-disclosure variables. Two possible origins of children's general attributional style, i.e., the nature of the sexual abuse and the child's mother's attributional style, were also explored. Twenty-six girls ages nine and a half to eighteen and their caretakers served as the sample. In each case the youth had been sexually abused by an adult male relative. The results of the study partially supported the reformulated theory of helplessness and depression. Sexually abused children with a more self-enhancing attributional style, i.e., those who attributed the cause of negative events to external, specific, and unstable causes and positive events to internal, stable, and global causes, reported less depressive symptomatology and a higher self-concept. However, their attributional style was not related to their caretakers' rating of their internalizing symptomatology. In addition, the sexually abused children's specific attributions about their abuse were not consistent with their overall attributional style as postulated by the reformulated theory. Finally, of the internal-external, stable-unstable, and global-specific dimensions of attributional style, only stable attributions were found to be related to self-reported depressive symptomatology and caretaker-reported internalizing symptomatology. No significant correlations were found regarding the possible origins of attributional style. Relevant to working with sexually abused children, the nature of the sexual abuse was not related to the girls' specific attributions and cognitions about the abuse. However, the more children indicated feeling emotionally close to the offender at the time of the study, the more they made internal attributions for the abuse. Also, the more children perceived others to blame them for the sexual abuse, the more stable were their attributions. Implications and directions for future research are offered. |
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| ISBN: | 9798208374658 |