Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries (January 11 - 14, 2007)

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to build understanding about the coping of nonabusive mothers of sexually abused children after they are confronted with the fact of their children's sexual abuse. It is clear that large numbers of children are sexually abused every year, and that trauma associated with this abuse contributes to future relational as well as mental and physical health problems. Prior research has shown that a mother's adjustment is the strongest predictor for the child victim's outcomes, making an understanding of these mothers critical to the outcomes for the entire family affected by sexual abuse.

Methods: This mixed method study used focus groups to collect exploratory data on nonabusive mothers of sexually abused children. Based on these focus groups, survey instruments were developed to build upon the limited empirical knowledge about these mothers, their stressors, and the environmental or intrapsychic features that would impact their crisis response. Both standardized measures, with strong psychometric properties, and newly created instruments were utilized. This research was conducted at three community clinics where 125 eligible mothers were recruited (primarily Caucasian and African American). Factors were examined to predict post-abuse coping and adjustment of mothers, using correlations and multiple regressions.

Results: The outcomes examined included negative emotional outcomes and externalizing anger. Rumination, sometimes referred to as “thinking too much”, was used first as a predictor and then as a mediator variable (using the Sobel test). Abuse severity was not related to either outcome. Maternal child abuse history, and level of life stressors, were correlated with negative outcomes, but were less likely to predict maternal emotional and behavioral outcomes than was rumination. Rumination, a cognitive process of self-questioning, was the strongest correlate with each negative outcome and fully mediated the effects of the other predictors on these outcomes.

Implications for Practice: This study asserts that maternal rumination is a central factor in post-abuse adjustment and should be routinely assessed both for research and treatment purposes. Without its inclusion in research, a central component in understanding these mothers may be excluded, leading to faulty conclusions. Services to both mothers and, indirectly, to child victims, can be enhanced with a knowledge of the role of rumination. Further, an awareness of rumination, when intervening with mothers, points to using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as a preferred treatment modality to interrupt this cognitive process.