Childhood sexual abuse, attachment, and trauma symptoms in college females: The moderating role of attachment

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2006.12.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

The present study tests a model linking attachment, childhood sexual abuse (CSA), and adult psychological functioning. It expands on previous work by assessing the degree to which attachment security moderates the relationship between a history of child sexual abuse and trauma-related symptoms in college females.

Method

Self-reports of attachment, childhood sexual abuse, and adult psychological functioning were obtained from 324 female undergraduate students attending a Southeastern U.S. university. Separate analyses were conducted examining the potential moderating role for close-adult, parent-child, and peer attachment styles.

Results

In this sample, 37.7% of participants reported sexually abusive experiences prior to age 16. History of child sexual abuse was consistently associated with higher levels of trauma-related symptoms and lower levels of attachment security in close-adult, parent-child, and peer relations. Additionally, attachment security was consistently associated with trauma-related symptoms. Close-adult, parent-child, and peer attachment differentially moderated trauma-related symptoms. Specifically, in peer relationships, the strength of the relationships between attachment measures and trauma symptoms were greater for CSA survivors than for non-abused participants. The opposite pattern of results was found for attachment in parental and close-adult relationships.

Conclusion

Results suggest that attachment security in peer and parent relationships protects against the negative effects of CSA, while only weak, marginally significant protective effects were observed for close-adult relationships. Only modest support was found for the conceptualization of attachment as a moderator of the relationship between CSA and trauma-related symptoms. However, the results suggest that attachment security at least partially protects against negative CSA outcomes.

Section snippets

Child sexual abuse

Although estimates concerning the prevalence of CSA vary widely, evidence suggests that at least 20% of adult women in North America experienced sexual abuse during childhood (Finkelhor, 1994). These estimates are influenced by a variety of factors including the definition of abuse, methodological approach, and quality of the studies examined. Commonly reported psychological difficulties include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, self-esteem problems, somatic

Attachment

Attachment theory (e.g., Bowlby, 1969) was initially developed as a model that explains normative parent-child bonding as the result of an evolutionarily adaptive set of organized care-giving and care-seeking strategies (conceptualized as behavioral systems) that are activated in times of distress or threat. Subsequent research has focused on differences in the degree and manner in which individuals establish optimal levels of proximity and feelings of security within close childhood and adult

CSA and attachment

Although the potential causal direction is unclear, ample evidence suggests that CSA and adult/adolescent attachment are associated. Secure attachment with one's parents and/or romantic partners is negatively associated with childhood sexual victimization within clinical and community samples (e.g., Fergusson, Lynskey, & Horwood, 1996; Mallinckrodt, McCreary, & Robertson, 1995; Roche, Runtz, & Hunter, 1999; Shapiro & Levendosky, 1999; Twaite & Rodriquez-Srendnicki, 2004; Whiffen, Judd, & Aube,

CSA, attachment, and CSA outcomes

A review of the literature regarding the relationship between CSA, attachment security, and CSA outcomes reveals that, with few exceptions, the majority of hypotheses and the theoretical rationale on which they are based are quite consistent with what Baron and Kenny (1986) define as moderated relationships. That is, individual differences in attachment security (the moderator) may uniquely determine the strength and/or direction of the relationship between CSA and long-term CSA outcomes.

Hypotheses regarding main effects

We predicted the presence of a significant main effect of CSA history on trauma symptoms in which participants who experienced a sexually abusive event prior to age 16 would exhibit higher levels of trauma-related psychological difficulties than would non-abused participants. We also predicted the presence of a main effect of CSA history on attachment security in which CSA participants would report lower levels of attachment security and higher levels of dismissing, preoccupied, and fearful

Participants

Three hundred and twenty-four female undergraduate college students between the ages of 18 and 21 (M = 18.26, SD = .62) participated in this study during the 2000–2001 academic year. They were recruited from introductory psychology courses at a medium sized southeastern university. Students who volunteered to participate completed the protocols and were given course credit for their participation. The majority were Caucasian (88%), while approximately 7% were African-American, 1% were Asian/Pacific

Descriptive data

Descriptive data (means, standard deviations, ranges, and reliability coefficients) for all measures are available from the first author and at http://www.radford.edu/∼jaspelme/CSA/Descriptive-Data.pdf.

Abuse histories in participants

One hundred and twenty-two participants (37.7%) were categorized as having a history of CSA, 200 were categorized in the non-CSA group, and 2 participants failed to respond to all the questions necessary for categorization.

CSA and trauma-related symptomatology

To test the hypothesis that a history of CSA would predict higher levels

Discussion

The results of the present study indicate that a history of child sexual abuse is consistently associated with higher levels of trauma-related symptoms and lower levels of attachment security in close-adult, parent-child, and peer relations. Additionally, attachment security is consistently associated with trauma-related symptoms. The hypothesis that attachment statistically moderates the relationship between CSA and trauma symptoms is only modestly supported. However, the results suggest that

Conclusion

The present investigation found that women's reports of childhood sexual abuse are consistently associated with higher levels of trauma-related symptoms and lower levels of attachment security in close-adult, parent-child, and peer relations. It also found that attachment security is consistently associated with trauma-related symptoms. However, it is unclear whether the modest moderator effects observed in the present study reflect the limited usefulness of the conceptualization of attachment

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Tom Pierce for his help with a variety of statistical and design issues; Niels Christensen for helping with moderator models; and Former students Jennifer Ross, Cynthia Hall, Sarah Cecil, Amy Childress, Crystal Fravel, Beth Carol, Jeff Fink, and Mary Alt for their help with data collection and preliminary analyses.

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    Funding for this project was provided by Faculty Development Grants from Radford University.

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