Family environments of victims of intrafamilial and extrafamilial child sexual abuse

Abstract

The family environments of Intrafamilial and extrafamilial childhood sexual abuse victims were examined to determine whether characteristics of incestuous families that appear to place children at risk for abuse can also be viewed as risk factors for abuse by a perpetrator outside the family. Participants were 31 college women identified as victims of childhood incest, 49 victims of extrafamilial abuse, and 49 nonvictims. They completed a questionnaire soliciting demographic and abuse-relevant information and the Family Environment Scale (FES). A multivariate analysis of variance and descriptive discriminant analysis of FES scores revealed that both intrafamilial and extrafamilial victim groups differed significantly from the nonabused group on a family functioning dimension comprised of cohesion, active recreational orientation, moralreligious emphasis, independence, and organization. The results thus supported the hypothesis that family characteristics associated with the occurrence of intrafamilial abuse were also associated with the occurrence of extrafamilial sexual assault. Implications of the findings as well as suggestions for further research are discussed.