To Hinder or to Strengthen: Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Experiences with Parent Disclosure Response
McKiernan, Darrian M. (author)
McWey, Lenore M. (professor directing dissertation)
Schelbe, Lisa (university representative)
Kimmes, Jonathan G. (Jonathan Gene) (committee member)
Rudaz, Myriam (committee member)
Harris, Gregory J. (committee member)
Florida State University (degree granting institution)
College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (degree granting college)
Department of Human Development and Family Science (degree granting department)
2024
text
doctoral thesis
Approximately 25% of women and 15% of men have reported being sexually abused in childhood. Although child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention and treatment methods have been widely supported in the literature, many survivors either never disclose or delay disclosing their abuse until later in life. The absence of disclosure presents major challenges to holistically understanding CSA prevention and treatment methods. Consequently, research attempting to uncover the barriers, influences, recipients, and impacts of CSA disclosure has become increasingly prevalent. A perceived negative response to CSA disclosure has been linked to a variety of long-term survivor consequences including revictimization, mental and physical health struggles, and relational issues. Not only is fear of others' responses one of the largest barriers to CSA disclosure, but having access to someone you can trust is also the most commonly identified influence to disclosing CSA. Unsurprisingly, survivors who decide to disclose initially do so and are primarily worried about the responses of their parents. Additionally, much of the CSA disclosure literature is oriented especially around children who disclose. It is reported, however, that survivors of CSA often delay reporting until adulthood. In order to increase feelings of safety for survivors to disclose, there is a need to strengthen our awareness of how survivors perceive their parents' responses to CSA disclosure. The present study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of survivors' perceptions surrounding disclosure of CSA to a parent. Grounded theory qualitative methods were employed to develop a central theory surrounding the process of adult CSA disclosure to a parent. Findings highlighted a relational process through which adult survivors perceive and interpret their parent's response to CSA disclosure. Analyses concluded that parent response to CSA disclosure impacted the parent-child relationship by either hindering or strengthening it. Whether a relationship was ultimately hindered or strengthened by the CSA disclosure experience was dependent on the manner in which parents responded to the disclosure. Harmful and helpful parental responses were divided into five subthemes: statements, questions, behaviors, positionality, and follow-up actions. Other patterns discussed were wished for responses, familial context, and ongoing CSA discussions. Findings from this study provide insights for parents and clinicians, as well as future research directions.
child sexual abuse, disclosure, disclosure response, parent disclosure response, parent-child relationship, sexual abuse
February 26, 2024.
A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Human Development and Family Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Includes bibliographical references.
Lenore McWey, Professor Directing Dissertation; Lisa Schelbe, University Representative; Jonathan Kimmes, Committee Member; Myriam Rudaz, Committee Member; Gregory Harris, Committee Member.
Florida State University
McKiernan_fsu_0071E_18476