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Predictors of Maladaptive Coping in Incarcerated Women Who are Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

  • FACTORS THAT MODIFY OR MEDIATE THE LINK BETWEEN CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE AND ADJUSTMENT
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Abstract

Women’s rates of incarceration have increased notably in the past two decades. Concurrently, research with female offenders has identified a high incidence of experiences of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), a potential risk factor for negative psychosocial outcomes. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model examining associations among CSA, emotion regulation, posttraumatic stress, and coping in a sample of 224 incarcerated women. The relationships between CSA and difficulties with emotion regulation and posttraumatic stress were mediated by self-blame, and the relationship between self-blame and maladaptive coping was mediated by both difficulties with emotion regulation and posttraumatic stress. These findings have implications for identifying treatment needs of incarcerated women and suggest potential targets for intervention.

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Acknowledgment

First we express our appreciation to the women who chose to participate in this study and the prison administrators and staff whose support made this project possible. We thank our numerous research team members for their roles as interviewers or data enterers. We also thank Maria Wong for her statistical consultation. This project received funding from the Idaho State University Research Committee and Humanities and Social Science Research Committee.

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Correspondence to Shannon M. Lynch.

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Johnson, K.A., Lynch, S.M. Predictors of Maladaptive Coping in Incarcerated Women Who are Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse. J Fam Viol 28, 43–52 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-012-9488-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-012-9488-3

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