The Effect of Educator Support on Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Background and Purpose: Research indicates that survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) often develop heightened levels of post-traumatic stress and insecure attachment in adulthood. Studies have explored supportive parent relationships as a mediator for CSA and these outcomes. While early mother-child relationships have been the basis for attachment development, more recent literature indicates attachment develops beyond infancy and regards teachers as “ad hoc” attachment figures. Despite research indicating teachers can function as attachment figures, and that attachment develops beyond infancy, no studies have investigated the effect supportive educator relationships have on adult functioning for survivors of CSA. The present study’s research focus is to investigate the effect that supportive educators have on adult attachment and post-traumatic stress for survivors of CSA. Hypotheses include 1) higher levels of teacher support and warmth is significantly related to lower levels of insecure attachment in adulthood, 2) supportive and unsupportive teacher responses to disclosed sexual abuse in childhood affect levels of anxious attachment in adulthood, and 3) higher levels of teacher support and warmth is significantly related to lower severity of post-traumatic stress in adulthood.

Methods: The current study uses a retrospective survey design utilizing quantitative methods. Attachment was captured using the Experiences in Close Relationships Revised scale, post-traumatic stress severity was captured through the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, educator support was captured using the Student Version of the Teacher Student Relationship Inventory and Godbout’s CSA-parental support measure in response to disclosure, though modified for measuring teacher support. Purposive voluntary response sampling was utilized. Inclusion criteria consisted of individuals over the age of 18 who experienced CSA before age 11, (n=83). Participants were recruited via a national research registry associated with a large non-profit hospital system and through student and staff e-mail distribution lists at an east coast urban university. Chi-square tests for independence and two-sample t-tests were conducted to examine the associations between supportive educator relationships and attachment. To explore associations between adult levels of post-traumatic stress severity and teacher support, a two-sample t-test was conducted.

Results: Results of analyses showed that 1) higher levels of teacher support is significantly related to lower levels of avoidant attachment and post-traumatic stress, 2) there is a statistically significant difference in attachment anxiety scores between different types of teacher responses to disclosed CSA, 3) unsupportive teacher responses in reaction to disclosed CSA is associated with higher levels of anxious attachment.

Conclusions and Implications: Future research should explore in greater detail 1) what unsupportive responses consist of, and 2) what aspects of positive teacher relationships help reduce attachment insecurity and post-traumatic stress severity to inform best practices and policy. Specifically, teacher-training programs should modify curriculum development surrounding 1) the high prevalence of trauma amongst today’s youth, 2) trauma-informed skillsets, 3) best practices in terms of responding to student trauma disclosures, and 4) the fundamental role educators play in attachment development highlighting the importance of supportive student-teacher relationships. These efforts may contribute to mitigating the adverse effects on attachment and post-traumatic stress resulting from CSA.