Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Major
Psychology, Clinical-Community
Date of Defense
7-18-2006
Graduate Advisor
Michael G. Griffin, Ph.D.
Committee
Matthew Kliethermes, Ph.D.
Kamila White, Ph.D.
Lois Pierce, Ph.D.
Abstract
Child sexual abuse is a complicated stressor with a broad range of associated symptoms. It has been suggested that the coping techniques children utilize may act as a mediating variable in the relationship between child sexual abuse and subsequent difficulties. Until recently, child sexual abuse sequelae were assessed in a piecemeal fashion, with individual tests for each symptom domain and reporter. However, recent developments in the area of trauma assessment have provided researchers with complementary caretaker- and self-report measures to assess a broad range of trauma-related symptoms (i.e., the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children [TSCYC] and the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children [TSCC], respectively). This project utilized the intake assessment data from children who were beginning psychotherapy services subsequent to sexual abuse. The TSCYC is a relatively new measure, therefore, Study 1 evaluated its internal consistency (N=308), the correlation between the caretaker- and self-report measures (N=135), and the convergent validity of the TSCYC with other caretaker-report measures of children¿s symptoms (N=135). The results indicated that the TSCYC has good internal consistency and convergent validity. The inter-correlation of the TSCYC and TSCC is quite low and consistent with other studies attempting to understand multi-informant assessment processes. Children and their caretakers describe very different pictures when asked about the children¿s difficulties. Study 2 (N=98) then evaluated the relationship between children¿s coping style as assessed by the KIDCOPE and trauma-related symptoms as reported by the children themselves and their caretakers. Overall, more external coping behaviors were associated with an increase in caretaker-reported symptoms, but internal coping was associated with more self-reported symptoms among children between the ages of eight and twelve years. The implications of these findings and future directions for research are discussed.
OCLC Number
547420807
Recommended Citation
Schacht, Megan M., "The Impact of Sexual Abuse and How Children Cope: Different Perspectives from Caretakers and Children" (2006). Dissertations. 604.
https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/604