Background

Although children's self-blame appraisals are recognized as important sequelae of child victimization that contribute to subsequent adjustment problems, little is known about the factors that predict their development and longitudinal course.

Objective

The current study examines the stability and longitudinal predictors of children's self-blame appraisals among a sample of children reported for family violence.

Participants and setting

Children (N = 195; 63 % female) aged 7 to 17 years (M_age = 12.17) were recruited as part of a longitudinal assessment of families referred to the United States Navy's Family Advocacy Program due to allegations of child physical abuse, sexual abuse, or intimate partner violence.

Methods

Children completed assessments on self-blame at 3 time points (baseline, 9–12 months, and 18–24 months) and baseline measures of their victimization experience, caregiver-child conflict, and depression.

Results

In univariate analyses, victimization that involved injury (r = 0.29, p < .001), the number of perpetrators (r = 0.23, p = .001), the number of victimization types (r = 0.32, p < .001), caregiver-child conflict (r = 0.36, p < .001), and depression (r = 0.39, p < .001) were each positively associated with baseline self-blame. When examined in a single longitudinal multilevel model, results indicated only caregiver-child conflict (b = 0.08, p = .007) and baseline depression (b = 0.06, p = .013) predicted increases in self-blame.

Conclusion

Findings suggest clinicians and researchers may consider assessment of victimization characteristics, caregiver-child relationships, and depression symptoms to identify children most at risk for developing self-blame appraisals.

中文翻译：

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遭受家庭暴力的军人家庭儿童自责评估的纵向预测因素

背景

尽管儿童的自责评估被认为是儿童受害的重要后遗症，会导致随后的适应问题，但人们对预测其发展和纵向过程的因素知之甚少。

客观的

目前的研究考察了被报告遭受家庭暴力的儿童样本中儿童自责评估的稳定性和纵向预测因素。

参加者及设置

 招募了 7 至 17 岁（M_年龄= 12.17）的儿童（N = 195；63% 为女性 ），作为对因儿童身体虐待、性虐待指控而提交给美国海军家庭倡导计划的家庭进行纵向评估的一部分，或亲密伴侣暴力。

方法

儿童在 3 个时间点（基线、9-12 个月和 18-24 个月）完成自责评估，以及受害经历、照顾者与儿童冲突和抑郁的基线测量。

结果

在单变量分析中，涉及伤害的受害 ( r  = 0.29，p  < .001)、肇事者数量 ( r  = 0.23，p  = .001)、受害类型数量 ( r  = 0.32，p  < .001)、照顾者与儿童冲突 ( r  = 0.36，p  < .001) 和抑郁 ( r  = 0.39，p  < .001) 均与基线自责呈正相关。当在单一纵向多水平模型中进行检查时，结果表明只有照顾者与儿童的冲突（b  = 0.08，p  = .007）和基线抑郁（b  = 0.06，p  = .013）预测自责的增加。

结论

研究结果表明，临床医生和研究人员可以考虑评估受害特征、照顾者与儿童的关系和抑郁症状，以识别最有可能出现自责评价的儿童。