Exploring the disclosure of child sexual abuse with alleged victims and their parents.

OBJECTIVE The goal of the present study was to examine how children disclosed sexual abuse by alleged perpetrators who were not family members. METHODOLOGY Thirty alleged victims of sexual abuse and their parents were interviewed. The children were interviewed using the NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol by six experienced youth investigators. The same principles were followed when the parents were asked to describe in detail what had happened since the abusive incidents. The statements made by the children and parents were then content analyzed. Major characteristics of the children's and parents' reported behaviors were identified by two independent raters. FINDINGS More than half (53%) of the children delayed disclosure for between 1 week and 2 years, fewer than half first disclosed to their parents, and over 40% did not disclose spontaneously but did so only after they were prompted; 50% of the children reported feeling afraid or ashamed of their parents' responses, and their parents indeed tended to blame the children or act angrily. The disclosure process varied depending on the children's ages, the severity and frequency of abuse, the parents' expected reactions, the suspects' identities, and the strategies they had used to foster secrecy. CONCLUSIONS The children's willingness to disclose abuse to their parents promptly and spontaneously decreased when they expected negative reactions, especially when the abuse was more serious. A strong correlation between predicted and actual parental reactions suggested that the children anticipated their parents' likely reactions very well.

[1]  J. Barker,et al.  Criminal investigation of child sexual abuse: a comparison of cases referred to the prosecutor to those not referred. , 2000, Child abuse & neglect.

[2]  D. Goh,et al.  Factors Associated with Disclosure During Child Sexual Abuse Assessment , 1997 .

[3]  A. Beck,et al.  Cognitive-Behavioral Strategies in Crisis Intervention , 1996, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy.

[4]  N. Kellogg,et al.  Unwanted sexual experiences in adolescents. Patterns of disclosure. , 1995, Clinical pediatrics.

[5]  M. Black,et al.  The diagnosis of child sexual abuse. , 1992, American journal of diseases of children.

[6]  D. Fergusson,et al.  Childhood sexual abuse and psychiatric disorder in young adulthood: I. Prevalence of sexual abuse and factors associated with sexual abuse. , 1996, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[7]  D. Poole,et al.  Assessing the accuracy of young children's reports: Lessons from the investigation of child sexual abuse , 1998 .

[8]  Desmond K. Runyan,et al.  Predictors of Disclosure During Medical Evaluation for Suspected Sexual Abuse , 1997 .

[9]  G. Payne,et al.  Outcome-based practice: disclosure rates of child sexual abuse comparing allegation blind and allegation informed structured interviews. , 1996, Child abuse & neglect.

[10]  W. Downs,et al.  The Moderating Impact of Social Support Following Childhood Sexual Abuse , 1992, Violence and Victims.

[11]  T. Sorensen,et al.  How children tell: the process of disclosure in child sexual abuse. , 1991, Child welfare.

[12]  A. Bradley,et al.  How do children tell? The disclosure process in child sexual abuse. , 1996, Child abuse & neglect.

[13]  D Finkelhor,et al.  Sexual abuse in a national survey of adult men and women: prevalence, characteristics, and risk factors. , 1990, Child abuse & neglect.

[14]  W. Friedrich,et al.  Sexual victimization and sexual behavior in children: a review of recent literature. , 1993, Child abuse & neglect.

[15]  K. J. Sternberg,et al.  Using multiple informants to understand domestic violence and its effects. , 1998 .

[16]  D G Kilpatrick,et al.  Delay in disclosure of childhood rape: results from a national survey. , 2000, Child abuse & neglect.

[17]  J. E. Myers,et al.  The APSAC Handbook on Child Maltreatment , 2001 .

[18]  P. Jaudes,et al.  Sexual abuse evaluations in the emergency department: is the history reliable? , 1996, Child abuse & neglect.

[19]  C. Fitzpatrick,et al.  Children's disclosure of sexual abuse during formal investigation. , 1994, Child abuse & neglect.

[20]  C. Arata.  To Tell or Not to Tell: Current Functioning of Child Sexual abuse Survivors who Disclosed their Victimization , 1998 .

[21]  J. Ussher,et al.  The nature and long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse: a survey of adult women survivors in Britain. , 1995, The British journal of clinical psychology.

[22]  D. Jehu.  Sexual Dysfunctions Among Women Clients Who Were Sexually Abused in Childhood , 1989, Behavioural Psychotherapy.

[23]  D. Bybee,et al.  An analysis of allegations of sexual abuse in a multi-victim day-care center case. , 1993, Child abuse & neglect.

[24]  Sharon Lamb,et al.  Aspects of Disclosure , 1994 .

[25]  Suzanne S. Ageton.  The Dynamics of Female Delinquency, 1976-1980 , 1983 .

[26]  E. Jouriles,et al.  Children exposed to marital violence: Theory, research, and applied issues. , 1998 .

[27]  Y. Orbach,et al.  Age differences in young children's responses to open-ended invitations in the course of forensic interviews. , 2003, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[28]  L. Vitulano,et al.  The use of multiple informants to assess children's maltreatment experiences , 1994, Journal of Family Violence.

[29]  A. Cederborg,et al.  Child sexual abuse: Disclosure, delay, and denial. , 2007 .

[30]  G. Goodman,et al.  4. Interviewing children in and out of court: Current research and practice implications. , 2002 .

[31]  E. DeVoe,et al.  The Characteristics of Disclosure among Children Who May have been Sexually Abused , 1999 .

[32]  C. Orsak,et al.  Semistructured child sexual abuse interviews: interview and child characteristics related to credibility of disclosure. , 1996, Child abuse & neglect.

[33]  D. Muram.  Child sexual abuse. , 1992, Obstetrics and gynecology clinics of North America.

[34]  Charles Felzen Johnson,et al.  Child sexual abuse , 2004, The Lancet.

[35]  R. Alaggia,et al.  Against the Odds: The Impact of Woman Abuse on Maternal Response to Disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse , 2005, Journal of child sexual abuse.

[36]  R. Summit.  The child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome. , 1983, Child abuse & neglect.

[37]  M. Bruck,et al.  Jeopardy in the Courtroom: A Scientific Analysis of Children's Testimony , 1995 .

[38]  C. Tang.  Childhood experience of sexual abuse among Hong Kong Chinese college students. , 2002, Child abuse & neglect.

[39]  M. Lamb,et al.  Trends in children's disclosure of abuse in Israel: a national study. , 2005, Child abuse & neglect.

[40]  E. Somer,et al.  Variables in delayed disclosure of childhood sexual abuse. , 2001, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[41]  W. Hellerstedt,et al.  Association of maternal psychological functioning to pathology in child sexual abuse victims. , 1997, Issues in mental health nursing.

[42]  T. Roesler,et al.  Telling the Secret , 1994 .

[43]  Y. Orbach,et al.  Use of a structured investigative protocol enhances young children's responses to free-recall prompts in the course of forensic interviews. , 2001, The Journal of applied psychology.

[44]  J. Briere,et al.  Forensic sexual abuse evaluations of older children: Disclosures and symptomatology , 1994 .

[45]  Y. Orbach,et al.  The Effects of Forensic Interview Practices on the Quality of Information Provided by Alleged Victims of Child Abuse , 2008 .

[46]  C. Carnes,et al.  Extended Forensic Evaluation When Sexual Abuse is Suspected: A Multisite Field Study , 2001, Child maltreatment.

[47]  Y. Orbach,et al.  Assessing the value of structured protocols for forensic interviews of alleged child abuse victims. , 2000, Child abuse & neglect.

[48]  D. Goh,et al.  Positive Reaction to Disclosure and Recovery from Child Sexual Abuse , 2000 .

[49]  T. Roesler.  Reactions to Disclosure of Childhood Sexual Abuse The Effect on Adult Symptoms , 1994, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[50]  M. Chaffin,et al.  False Negatives in Sexual Abuse Disclosure Interviews , 1992 .

[51]  R. J. Kelly,et al.  Children's patterns of disclosures and recantations of sexual and ritualistic abuse allegations in psychotherapy. , 1993, Child abuse & neglect.

[52]  Y. Orbach,et al.  Effects of introductory style on children's abilities to describe experiences of sexual abuse. , 1997, Child abuse & neglect.

[53]  N. Rae-Grant,et al.  Responding to children's disclosure of familial abuse: what survivors tell us. , 1999, Child welfare.

[54]  M. Bruck,et al.  DISCLOSURE OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE What Does the Research Tell Us About the Ways That Children Tell , 2005 .

[55]  Robin McGee,et al.  The measurement of maltreatment: a comparison of approaches. , 1995, Child abuse & neglect.

[56]  P. Firestone,et al.  Children's emotional and behavioral reactions following the disclosure of extrafamilial sexual abuse: initial effects. , 1996, Child abuse & neglect.

[57]  M. Everson,et al.  Maternal support following disclosure of incest. , 1989, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.