Evaluating parental support for sexually abused children : discrepancies between children and their parents

Parental support has shown to be a strong predictor of children's recovery and healthy development following disclosure of child sexual abuse (CSA). The purpose of this study is to evaluate parental support for children after CSA disclosure, aiming to discover possible discrepancies between children and their non-offending parents in how they perceive parental support. It is also intended to explore the relationship between parental support discrepancies and other factors like parent’s level of stress and children’s Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Participants were 73 children (that had been sexually abused) who were undergoing psychological treatment at the Children´s House in Reykjavik, and their non-offending parents. Hypotheses were tested by using paired sample and independent sample t-tests. Results showed a significant mean difference between parent’s self-ratings on provided support and their children’s perception of received support (negative discrepancies). There were more negative discrepancies if parents were less stressed compared to severely stressed. Results also showed significantly more PTSD symptoms in children when negative discrepancies were high. There was not a significant difference between discrepancy scores and children’s age or severity of the abuse. Understanding this type of discrepancies can be essential in understanding the predicting factors for children’s risk for maladjustment and for guidance in proper diagnosis and care. Keywords: Child sexual abuse, parental support, discrepancies, parent’s stress. children’s PTSD