Maternal personality characteristics and familial sexual abuse.

Abstract

Previous clinical observations have suggested that mothers of incest victims are dependent, may be physically or mentally ill, are unable to assume adult responsibilities and have marital difficulties. In addition, they have been described as victims themselves with a history of abuse in their own childhood. There is little empirical data to support these observations. Thirty-one mothers of incest victims and a control group of thirty mothers whose children were not incest victims completed psychological tests and a demographic questionnaire in order to empirically test the constructs of dependency, mental and physical illness, role reversal, marital dysfunction and childhood history of abuse. Age, education and ethnicity did not differ in the two groups. 42% of the mothers of incest victims reported experiencing sexual abuse as a child; 13% of the control group reported sexual abuse. Childhood physical abuse and neglect were also significantly higher for the experimental group. Mothers in the experimental group were found to have married more times and to have more children than mothers in the control group. Results of analyses of variance showed significant differences between groups on measures of family conflict and lack of family cohesion. No significant differences were found between groups on measures of dependency, marital adjustment, depression, physical illness, and role reversal. Results of a discriminant function analysis suggest that a combination of variables such as sexual abuse as a child, number of marriages, depression and dependency, while not significant as lone indicators, may provide the clinician with additional information in assessing possible incest within a family. Additional empirical longitudinal research is needed to further clarify maternal personality characteristics in the incestuous family.