Attributions of blame among victims of child sexual abuse: Findings from a community sample

Pinar Okur*, Noemí Pereda, Leontien M. Van Der Knaap, Stefan Bogaerts

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

According to the attribution theory, negative outcomes of child sexual abuse (CSA) are thought to vary depending on whether CSA victims attribute the abuse to internal or external factors, respectively, self-blame and perpetrator-blame. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify abuse characteristics and attitudes that influence blame attributions among CSA victims from a community sample. Data from respondents with a history of CSA (N = 1,496) have been used in predicting blame attributions; perpetrator-blame, self-blame, or both. Results from a multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that attitudes toward gender roles had a significant effect on blame: victims were more likely to blame themselves when they endorsed more conservative gender attitudes than victims with more liberal attitudes. Implications for this finding are discussed.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)301-317
JournalJournal of Child Sexual Abuse
Volume28
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Keywords

  • Sexual violence
  • blame
  • community sample
  • multinomial regression
  • SELF-BLAME
  • GENDER
  • ATTITUDES
  • RAPE
  • ADJUSTMENT
  • PTSD
  • PERCEPTIONS
  • PERSPECTIVE
  • PREDICTORS
  • MEDIATORS

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