Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Sexually Abused Children: Secure Attachment as a Protective Factor

Frontiers in Psychology

Jessica L. Borelli¹  Christina Marquez¹  Abby Rozenberg¹  Lina Normandin²  Karin Ensink²  Natacha Godbout³  Peter Fonagy³ 

[1] Department of Psychological Science, Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States;Pavillon Félix-Antoine-Savard, Université Laval, Quebec, QC, Canada;University College London, London, United Kingdom;

关键词: attachment;    childhood sexual abuse;    post-traumatic stress disorder;    middle childhood;    secure attachment;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2021.646680

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The aim of the present study was to examine the hypothesis that attachment and childhood sexual abuse (CSA) interacted such that school aged CSA survivors with insecure attachment to parents would be at an elevated risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and trauma symptoms. Participants (n = 111, ages 7–12) comprised two groups, child CSA survivors (n = 43) and a matched comparison group of children (n = 68) recruited from the community. Children completed the Child Attachment Interview (CAI) as well as the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC). There was a significant interaction between sexual abuse history and attachment security, such that sexually abused children with insecure attachment representations had significantly more PTSD and trauma symptoms than sexually abused children with secure attachment to parents. The findings show that using a dual lens of attachment and CSA can facilitate the identification of children most at risk and has important implications for understanding risk and resilience processes.

【 授权许可】

Unknown