Child Abuse Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Child Abuse, including details on family violence, examinations, long-term effects, psychiatrics disorders.

What they tell you to forget: from child sexual abuse to adolescent motherhood.

Erdmans MP, Black T

Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, Connecticut, USA.

This study explores the relationship between child sexual abuse and adolescent motherhood, using a life story interview method. The sample consists of 27 mothers participating in a home-visitation parenting program for mothers at risk of child maltreatment. The failure to articulate the violation of child sexual abuse and to appropriately construct blame resulted in a range of self-destructive behaviors, some of which placed mothers at greater risk of teen pregnancy. Repressed feelings associated with the trauma often resurfaced with motherhood as victims re-experienced their innocence and vulnerability as children.

Published 4 January 2008 in Qual Health Res, 18(1): 77-89.
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