Reliability and validity of the short version of the childhood abuse self report scale in Chinese college students.

BACKGROUND: The reliability and validity of the current scale for measuring childhood abuse in China are worrying. The development of the Short Version of the Childhood Abuse Self Report Scale (CASRS-12) helps to change this situation, but the effectiveness of the tool has not yet been tested in Chinese participants. This study aims to test the reliability and validity of the CASRS­12 in Chinese college students. METHODS: A total of 932 college students were investigated, of whom 418 were investigated for the first time, and only the CASRS­12 was filled out. In the second survey, 514 participants filled out the CASRS­12, Depression Scale, Self-esteem Scale and Subjective Well-being Scale in turn. After 4 weeks, 109 participants were selected for retest. RESULTS: Each item of the CASRS­12 had good discrimination. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (χ2/df = 4. 18, RMSEA = 0. 079, CFI = 0. 95, TLI = 0. 94, IFI = 0. 95, NFI = 0. 94) all supported the four-factor structure of the scale, and the cumulative contribution rate of variance was 76.05%. Cronbach's α coefficient and retest reliability were 0.86 and 0.65, respectively. Childhood abuse was positively correlated with depression (r = 0. 42, p < 0.01), and negatively correlated with self-esteem (r=-0. 33, p < 0.01) and subjective well-being (r=-0. 32, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The Chinese version of CASRS­12 meets the measurement standard and could be used to measure the level of childhood abuse of Chinese college students.

Differential constellations of dissociative symptoms and their association with childhood trauma - a latent profile analysis.

Background: While several studies documented a positive correlation between childhood maltreatment severity and dissociation severity, it is currently unknown whether specific dissociative symptoms cluster together among individuals with childhood trauma histories ranging from none to severe.Objective: We aimed to explore symptom constellations across the whole spectrum of dissociative processing from patients with severe dissociative disorders to healthy controls and relate these to maltreatment severity and sociodemographic characteristics.Methods: We employed latent profile analysis to explore symptom profiles based on five subscales, measuring absorption, depersonalization, derealization, somatoform and identity alteration, based on the 20 items of the German short version of the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (Fragebogen zu Dissoziativen Symptomen-20) in a large aggregate sample (n = 3,128) overrepresenting patients with trauma-related disorders. We then related these profiles to maltreatment severity as measured by the five subscales of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire as well as sociodemographic characteristics.Results: Based on the five FDS subscales, six clusters differentiated by symptom severity, but not symptom constellations, were identified. Somatoform dissociation varied in accordance with the remaining symptom clusters. The cluster with the highest overall symptom severity entailed nearly all subjects diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder and was characterized by extreme levels of childhood maltreatment. Both abuse and neglect were predictive of cluster membership throughout.Conclusions: The higher the severity of dissociative processing in a cluster, the more subjects reported high severity and multiplicity of childhood maltreatment. However, some subjects remain resilient to the development of dissociative processing although they experience extreme childhood maltreatment.

Dissociative symptoms, including identity alterations, are closely related to the severity of experienced childhood abuse.Somatoform dissociation occurs on all levels of overall dissociation severity.Some subjects with a history extreme childhood maltreatment do not develop dissociative symptoms, while some subjects with extreme dissociative symptoms do not report any childhood maltreatment.

Localizing somatic symptoms associated with childhood maltreatment.

Childhood maltreatment has been linked to adult somatic symptoms, although this has rarely been examined in daily life. Furthermore, the localization of somatization associated with childhood maltreatment and its subtypes is unknown. This large-scale experience sampling study used body maps to examine the relationships between childhood maltreatment, its subtypes, and the intensity and location of negative somatic sensations in daily life. Participants (N = 2,234; 33% female and 67% male) were part of MyBPLab 2.0, a study conducted using a bespoke mobile phone application. Four categories of childhood maltreatment (emotional abuse, emotional neglect, physical abuse, and physical neglect) were measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Using gender-matched human silhouettes, participants indicated the location and intensity of feelings of negative activation in the body. Childhood maltreatment generally and its four measured subtypes were all positively associated with heightened negative activation on both the front and back body maps. For females, total childhood maltreatment was associated with negative activation in the abdomen and lower back, while for males, the association was localized to the lower back. Similarly, each of the four subscales had localized associations with negative activation in the abdomen and lower back in females and lower back in males, except for emotional abuse, which was also associated with negative activation in the abdomen in males. These associations likely reflect increased somatization in individuals exposed to childhood maltreatment, suggesting a role for psychotherapeutic interventions in alleviating associated distress.

Psychological maltreatment, meaning-centered coping, psychological flexibility, and suicide cognitions: A moderated mediation model.

BACKGROUND: Mental health problems are currently diversifying, increasing the possibility of suicide. Exposure to psychological maltreatment is one of the factors that increases suicidal cognitions. In addition, psychological flexibility and meaning-centered approaches may be effective in coping with suicidal cognitions. OBJECTIVE: A hypothesized model was tested to examine the relationships among psychological maltreatment, suicidal cognitions, psychological flexibility, and meaning-centered coping. METHOD: Data were collected from a sample of 652 participants. Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted to examine the mediating and moderating role of psychological flexibility and meaning-centered coping in the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and suicide cognitions among Turkish adults. RESULTS: The results of the study indicated significant negative and positive relationships between psychological maltreatment, suicide cognitions, psychological flexibility, and meaning-centered coping. The findings suggest that psychological flexibility and meaning-centered coping have a serial mediating effect on the relationship between psychological maltreatment and suicide cognitions. Furthermore, according to the study results, psychological flexibility plays a moderating role both between psychological maltreatment and suicidal cognitions and between meaning-centered coping and suicidal cognitions. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that psychological maltreatment can be considered as a risk factor and meaning-centered coping and psychological flexibility as protective factors in suicide prevention studies.

Explaining how childhood physical abuse and physical neglect influence adult depression: An analysis with multiple sequential mediators.

BACKGROUND: Substantial evidence indicates that experiencing physical abuse and neglect during childhood significantly elevates the likelihood of developing depression in adulthood. Nevertheless, there remains a dearth of understanding regarding the mechanisms underpinning this correlation. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to examine the associations of childhood physical abuse and physical neglect with depression using follow-up data from UK Biobank and quantified the contribution of smoking, insomnia, and BMI in these associations. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTINGS: This study included 144,704 participants (64,168 men and 80,536 women) from UK Biobank, most of whom were white (97 %). METHODS: Physical abuse and physical neglect were measured using two items of Childhood Trauma Screener (CTS). Data on the incidence of depression were obtained from primary care, hospital inpatient records, self-reported medical conditions, and death registries. We used a sequential mediation analysis based on the "g-formula" approach to explore the individual and joint effects of potential mediators. RESULTS: The depression incidence rate was 1.85 per 1000 person-years for men and 2.83 per 1000 person-years for women, respectively. Results of Cox proportional risk regression showed that physical abuse (HRs: 1.39-1.53, P < 0.001) and physical neglect (HRs: 1.43-1.60, P < 0.001) are associated with depression. Smoking, insomnia, and BMI together mediated 3 %-26 % of the associations. CONCLUSIONS: These findings contribute to our understanding of how physical abuse and physical neglect influence depression. Furthermore, a more effective reduction in the burden of depression can be achieved by managing modifiable mediators.

Does mental contamination mediate the association between childhood trauma and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in adults?

BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown that individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and OCD symptoms have higher rates of childhood trauma. Although it has been suggested that this relationship is due to mental contamination that developed in response to trauma, no studies have investigated the associations between childhood trauma, mental contamination, and OCD, and none have examined whether the relationship between childhood trauma and OCD is mediated by mental contamination. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that OCD, childhood trauma, and mental contamination are positively correlated, and that mental contamination would mediate the association between childhood trauma and OCD symptoms PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: We tested these hypotheses in a sample of 245 individuals, which comprised 158 MTurk workers recruited via CloudResearch.com and 87 individuals recruited through social media with OCD diagnoses or OCD symptoms above the clinical cutoff on the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised. METHODS: Participants completed online self-report questionnaires on childhood trauma, mental contamination, and OCD symptoms. RESULTS: The results revealed statistically significant positive correlations between childhood trauma, mental contamination, and OCD, and statistically significant total and indirect effects for the simple mediational model. Exploratory re-analyses with participants who had high OCD symptoms (n = 87) showed similar results. CONCLUSIONS: Our research shows that the association between childhood trauma and OCD may be explained by mental contamination. We recommend that mental contamination should be assessed and addressed in OCD patients with a history of childhood trauma.

Job Burnout Among the Helping Professions: The Roles of Childhood Maltreatment, Attachment Styles and Perceived Supervisor Support.

Job burnout is a major predicament globally, especially among the helping professions. Based on the job demands-resources (JDR) theory and on attachment theory, this study explored the relations between a history of childhood maltreatment (CM), insecure attachment styles (avoidant and anxious), perceived supervisor support and job burnout. A sample of 320 helping professionals participated in the study, of which 35% reported experiencing CM. Findings confirmed the hypothesis that a history of CM was positively related to both avoidant and anxious attachment styles. Anxious attachment style partly mediated the relationship between CM and burnout. In addition, the relationship between CM and burnout was mediated by avoidant attachment style and perceived supervisor support, so that highly avoidant professionals perceived their supervisors as less supportive, reporting higher levels of burnout. Notably, there were no discernible variations in burnout levels when comparing professionals who had experienced maltreatment with those who had not. The study highlights the value of adopting an attachment perspective to better understand job burnout among the helping professions.

Childhood Maltreatment and Adult Work Absenteeism: Work Meaningfulness as a Double-Edged Sword.

The adverse impacts of childhood maltreatment (CM) on an individual's health and economic welfare are widely recognized, yet its occupational and organizational effects remain less explored. Employee absenteeism, known as absenteeism, is often a sign of workplace maladjustment and may be linked to a history of CM. Some individuals in the helping professions, who exhibit a strong sense of purpose in their employment and pursue it in demanding environments, are CM survivors. This study investigates whether a heightened sense of meaningfulness in their work is associated with increased absenteeism among this subgroup. We recruited 320 helping professionals from a variety of social and mental health settings, one third of whom reported experiencing CM. As hypothesized, CM was positively correlated with work absenteeism. Furthermore, the relationship between work meaningfulness and absenteeism was moderated by their CM history: among those with CM experiences, greater work meaningfulness was associated with higher absenteeism rates. Our findings highlight the possibility that work meaningfulness may operate as a double-edged sword, and the importance of better understanding the challenges that high-functioning survivors of CM face within organizational contexts.

Perceived Community Belonging as a Moderator: Effects of Childhood Abuse on Health and Well-Being Among Middle-Aged and Older Canadians.

This study examined the moderating role of perceived community belonging in the relationship between childhood abuse and health and well-being outcomes among Canadian individuals aged 55 and older. Using data from the 2014 Canadian General Social Survey (n = 14,416), multiple linear regression models revealed that women who experienced either childhood physical or sexual abuse reported poorer self-rated general and mental health, as well as lower life satisfaction, compared to those without such histories. The most pronounced effects were observed among women who experienced both types of abuse. For men, a similar pattern was evident only for those who experienced childhood physical abuse. Notably, among women, a strong sense of community belonging lessened the negative effects of both types of childhood abuse on all examined outcomes. These findings underscore the protective role of perceived community belonging against the consequences of childhood abuse for older women. They illuminate the crucial role of gerontological social workers and scholars in promoting community integration and support. Focusing on these areas, especially for those with traumatic histories, can potentially improve their overall health and well-being.

Impact of three variants of prolonged exposure therapy on comorbid diagnoses in patients with childhood abuse-related PTSD.

Recent studies indicated that Prolonged Exposure (PE) is safe and effective for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is unclear whether PE also leads to a reduction in comorbid diagnoses. Data from a large randomized controlled trial (N = 149) on the effects of three variants of PE for PTSD were used. We examined the treatment effects on co-morbid diagnoses of depressive, anxiety, obsessive compulsive, substance abuse, psychotic, eating and personality disorders in a sample of patients with PTSD related to childhood abuse. Outcomes were assessed with clinical interviews at baseline, post-treatment and at 6- and 12-month follow-up. All variants of PE led to a decrease from baseline to post-treatment in diagnoses of depressive, anxiety, substance use and personality disorders. Improvements were sustained during follow-up. We found an additional decrease in the number of patients that fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of a depressive disorder between 6- and 12-month follow-up. No significant changes were observed for the presence of OCD, psychotic and eating disorders. Findings suggest that it is effective to treat PTSD related to childhood abuse with trauma-focused treatments since our 14-to-16 weeks PE for PTSD resulted in reductions in comorbid diagnoses of depressive, anxiety, substance use and personality disorders.

Depressive Symptoms in Later Life in China: Situating "Long Arm" of Child Physical Maltreatment Within a Family Context.

Objective: This article intends to reveal the long-term effects of physical maltreatment in childhood on depressive symptoms in later life in China. Methods: Data were drawn from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). 8676 respondents aged 45 and older were included in the study. In this study, we use ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models to estimate the long-term impact on children of physical punishment from their parents. Results: We found that individuals who recalled being hit by their mother in early life reported more depressive symptoms than those who recalled being punished by their father. Difficult family contexts (e.g., comparative poverty, family violence, and parent's poor mental health) had a weak association with higher risk of reporting physical maltreatment and more depressive symptoms among respondents in later life. Conclusion: This article extended the exploration of the long-term impact of child physical maltreatment beyond adolescence and into until later adult life. Effective policies to protect children from maltreatment in the form of physical punishment require further attention to the challenges posed by tradition and culture.

Emotional Betrayal From Child Sexual Abuse Measure (EBSCAM): A psychometric analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the psychometric properties of a new scale, the Emotional Betrayal from Child Sexual Abuse Measure (EBCSAM), which assesses feelings of betrayal in adult survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA). Emotional betrayal is examined with respect to the perpetrator as well as others in the survivor's immediate environment (i.e., family, friends, etc.) during the time of the abuse. METHOD: A sample of 342 CSA survivors were anonymously surveyed online in order to examine the psychometric properties of the EBCSAM. RESULTS: The original 16-item measure did not produce a good-fitting model, nor was it considered reliable or valid. Instead, a shortened six-item measure produced a successful model, was reliable (overall Cronbach's α = .85), and exploratory/confirmatory factor analyses suggested two valid latent subscales (Perpetrator Betrayal and Environmental Betrayal). CONCLUSION: This measure could be useful to clinicians treating survivors of child sexual abuse, as well as researchers, to reveal and evaluate aspects of emotional betrayal that impacted survivors.CSA). Emotional betrayal is examined with respect to the perpetrator as well as others in the survivor's immediate environment (i.e., family, friends, etc.) during the time of the abuse. METHOD: A sample of 342 CSA survivors were anonymously surveyed online in order to examine the psychometric properties of the (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Pathological personality explains individual differences in global emotion dysregulation within the pathway between child maltreatment and severe depressive symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: Global emotion dysregulation mediates the relationship between child maltreatment and severe depressive symptoms; however, there is a lack of research on maladaptive personality traits and their contribution to individual differences in global emotion dysregulation within this conceptual model. The present study tested a preliminary serial mediation model where maladaptive personality traits and global emotion dysregulation mediate the relationship between child maltreatment and severe depressive symptoms. METHOD: A total of 200 patients with mood disorders (Mage = 36.5 years; 54% females) were assessed for maladaptive personality traits (Personality Inventory for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [5th ed.] Brief Form), global emotion dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Short), childhood trauma (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire), and depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9). RESULTS: Ordinary least squares regression and partial least squares-structural equation modeling revealed a consistent and significant indirect effect of child maltreatment on severe depressive symptoms through negative affectivity, detachment, psychoticism, and global emotion dysregulation. Among child maltreatment types, only emotional abuse had a significant indirect effect on severe depressive symptoms through maladaptive personality traits and global emotion dysregulation, b = 0.50, SE = 0.09, 95% confidence intervals [0.326, 0.694] after controlling for age, gender, and remaining types of child maltreatment. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the view that maladaptive personality traits shed important insights on individual differences in global emotion dysregulation, and this information could aid clinical formulation and treatment of childhood adversity-related psychopathology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Collective trauma: Childhood abuse, perceived discrimination, and COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: Few studies have examined the interplay between collective trauma (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic) and personal trauma (e.g., child abuse and discrimination). In a longitudinal child maltreatment study, with a community sample added, negative COVID impact (e.g., financial and mental health difficulties due to COVID) was examined in relation to childhood abuse exposure and perceived discrimination. METHOD: Adults (N = 135) completed an online survey about trauma- and pandemic-related experiences. Regressions examined predictors of negative COVID impact and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms during the pandemic. RESULTS: Although cumulative maltreatment contributed to negative COVID impact, when high levels of cumulative maltreatment had been experienced in childhood, greater negative COVID impact did not significantly relate to PTSD symptoms: For these participants, PTSD symptoms were relatively high (but not at ceiling) in adulthood overall. Negative COVID impact predicted PTSD symptoms only at low levels of cumulative child abuse. Perceived discrimination was associated with negative COVID impact and PTSD symptomatology. CONCLUSIONS: Cumulative childhood abuse at high levels likely set the stage for PTSD symptoms in adulthood, regardless of negative COVID impact. Individuals with lower levels of cumulative childhood abuse had fewer PTSD symptoms unless COVID had a stronger negative impact on their lives. Discrimination contributed to lower pandemic-related well-being. Insight is provided into special vulnerabilities associated with maltreatment backgrounds and discrimination at times of collective challenges. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Self-Reported and Agency-Notified Child Abuse as Contributors to Suicidal Behaviour in a Population-Based Birth Cohort Study at 30-Year-Follow-Up.

This was a record-linkage analysis of a birth cohort to examine the association between self-reported self-harm in adulthood and childhood maltreatment (CM) as prospectively notified to authorities and self-reported on the Child Trauma Questionnaire. There were 2507 participants at 30-year follow-up with data on both CM and self-reported self-harm including an intent to die. Of the participants, 304 (12.1%) had self-harmed at some time in their lives while 150 (4.2%) had wanted to die. The prevalence of self- and agency-reported maltreatment was 513 (20.5%) and 143 (5.7%) respectively. On adjusted analyses, CM irrespective of reporting source showed significant associations with both suicidal outcomes. Physical and emotional abuse showed the strongest associations while findings for neglect were mixed. The only association for sexual abuse was for self-reported maltreatment and intent to die but numbers may have been under-powered.

Does Child Maltreatment Reduce or Increase Empathy? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Arguments about the associations between child maltreatment and empathy remain controversial. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to estimate the direction and magnitude of the relationships between child abuse and neglect and empathy. Four English databases (Web of Science, PsycInfo, PubMed, and Cochrane Library), three Chinese databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and Weipu), and grey literature were systematically searched. We extracted data related to the associations between child maltreatment and empathy and pooled them using random effects models. A total of 24 eligible studies involving 22,580 participants and 176 estimates were included in the analyses. Overall, child maltreatment was significantly related to reduced empathy (r_ = -0.15, 95% CI [-0.17, -0.13]). Specifically, the rank-order mean effect size of subtypes of maltreatment on empathy is: emotional neglect (r_ = -0.18, 95% CI [-0.25, -0.12]) > physical neglect (r_ = -0.16, 95% CI [-0.23, -0.09]) > emotional abuse (r_ = -0.15, 95% CI [-0.21, -0.10]) > physical abuse (r_ = -0.12, 95% CI [-0.17, -0.07]) > sexual abuse (r_ = -0.07, 95% CI [-0.14, -0.01]). Furthermore, the meta-regression results suggested that the aggregated associations between child maltreatment and empathy were not inflated by publication bias, but they were moderated by the age of respondents, sample size, publication language, empathy measurement, and maltreatment type. The results indicate that general maltreatment and its subtypes are associated with reduced empathy. Parent training and empathy enhancement programs should be designed to help children with a history of childhood maltreatment, respectively, from an early stage.

How are experiences and acceptability of child maltreatment related to resilience and posttraumatic growth: a cross cultural study.

Background: Post-traumatic growth (PTG) and resilience, regarded as positive psychological change following a traumatic experience, are under-researched across cultures in people exposed to child maltreatment (CM).Objective: We investigated how experiences and the perceived acceptability of CM are related to resilience and PTG in countries with different cultures, living standards, and gross national income.Method: A total of 478 adults from Cameroon (n = 111), Canada (n = 137), Japan (n = 108), and Germany (n = 122) completed an online survey with self-reported questionnaires, including the Brief Resilience Scale and the Post Traumatic Growth Inventory-Short Form.Results: Across countries, self-reported male gender and age were positively associated with resilience, while experiences of physical abuse and emotional maltreatment were negatively associated with resilience. Experiences of emotional maltreatment were positively associated with PTG. Higher levels of PTG and resilience were found amongst Cameroonian participants as compared to other countries.Conclusion: Our results suggest that positive changes following CM can vary significantly across cultures and that experiences of specific CM subtypes, but not the perceived acceptability of CM, may be important for a deeper understanding of how individuals overcome trauma and develop salutogenic outcomes. Our findings may inform CM intervention programmes for an enhanced cultural sensitivity.

Across the four countries (Canada, Cameroon, Germany, Japan), more experiences of physical abuse and emotional maltreatment were associated with lower resilience; more experiences of emotional maltreatment were associated with greater post-traumatic growth.Higher levels of post-traumatic growth and resilience were found in Cameroon as compared to other countries.Positive changes following child maltreatment vary across cultures and experiences of specific child maltreatment subtypes, but the perceived acceptability of child maltreatment did not exert an influence on salutogenic post-traumatic outcomes.

Anxious arousal predicts within-person changes in hippocampal volume in adults with a history of childhood maltreatment: A CAN-BIND4 report.

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is a strong transdiagnostic risk factor for future psychopathology. This risk is theorized to emerge partly because of glucocorticoid-mediated atrophy in the hippocampus, which leaves this area sensitive to further volume loss even through adulthood in the face of future stress and the emergence of psychopathology. This proof-of-principle study examines which specific dimensions of internalizing psychopathology in the context of a CM history are associated with decreases in hippocampal volume over a 6-month period. This study included 80 community-recruited adults (ages 18-66 years, 61.3% women) oversampled for a lifetime history of internalizing psychopathology. At baseline and a naturalistic 6-month follow-up, the symptom dimensions of the tripartite model (anxious arousal, anhedonic depression, and general distress) were assessed by self-report. Hippocampal volume was derived through T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scanning segmented via the volBrain HIPS pipeline. CM severity was determined via a semistructured, contextual interview with independent ratings. We found that higher levels of anxious arousal predicted decreases in hippocampal volume over time in those with greater severity of CM but were associated at a trend with increases in hippocampal volume over time in those with lower severity of maltreatment. Findings were specific to anxious arousal and the CA1 subregion of the hippocampus. These novel results suggest that for individuals with a history of CM, transdiagnostic interventions that target and reduce psychological and physiological arousal may result in the preservation of hippocampal structure and, thus, improvements in cognitive and emotional regulation in the face of stress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Childhood attachment security mediates the effect of childhood maltreatment chronicity on emotion regulation patterns in emerging adulthood.

This study uses a 2-wave, longitudinal design to evaluate mother-child attachment security (child-reported) and emotion regulation capacities (wave 1, age 10-12) as mediators linking childhood maltreatment chronicity and emotion regulation (ER) patterns in emerging adulthood (wave 2; N = 399; 48.1% male; 77.2% Black/African-American, 11.3% White, 7.8% Hispanic, 3.8% other race). Children from families eligible for public assistance with and without maltreatment exposure participated in a summer research camp (wave 1) and were recontacted in emerging adulthood (wave 2). SEM results showed that greater maltreatment chronicity predicted lower childhood attachment security, which in turn predicted membership in ER profiles marked by emotion dysregulation and limited access to ER strategies. Greater attachment security predicted membership in adaptive ER profiles in emerging adulthood. Results suggest that insecure attachment is one process by which childhood maltreatment disrupts adaptive ER across development, whereas greater attachment security in childhood can promote multiple forms of adaptive emotion regulation.

Comparing female- to male-perpetrated child sexual abuse as presumed by survivors - A qualitative content analysis.

BACKGROUND: Female-perpetrated child sexual abuse (CSA) is taboo topic in society and an under-recognized issue in research and mental health care. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to examine perspectives of individuals surviving female-perpetrated CSA (in parts in addition with male-perpetrated CSA) on the question whether female-perpetrated CSA and its sequelae were considered different compared to male-perpetrated CSA. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The perspectives of 212 survivors of female-perpetrated CSA were captured in a cross-sectional online study. METHODS: Answers to the questions "How does female-perpetrated CSA differ from male-perpetrated CSA?" and "How do consequences of female-perpetrated CSA differ from those of male-perpetrated CSA?" were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: The analyses reveal ten categories of differences, such as a more subtle approach, different levels of violence, and more psychological manipulation. Further, the analyses suggest ten categories of different personal consequences, such as less belief and support, more psychological sequelae, and disturbed relationships with women. CONCLUSIONS: Approaches to raise awareness about gender stereotypes in the context of CSA are needed and special needs of survivors of female-perpetrated CSA in psychotherapeutic treatment can be derived from the results of this study.