1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The present study aimed to provide data assessing the relative contribution of parental factors (e.g., parental distress and history of CSA [child sexual abuse]), children’s gender, and victimization status to the association with ER [emotion regulation] competencies of preschoolers.» (p. 181)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«The sample consisted of 153 French-speaking children aged 3½ to 6½ years old and their parents (92.6% a maternal figure and 7.4% a father figure; nonabusive parents in the CSA group). Of these children, 75 (14 boys) were sexually abused and 78 (21 boys) were recruited as a comparison group and had no known history of CSA. Sexually abused children were recruited at two intervention centers in Montréal, Canada.» (p. 181)

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«Results indicated that for the Lability/Negativity scores, parental distress and history of CSA were significant contributors, over and beyond the child’s victimization status. Child’s gender was also found to be relevant, which is coherent with previous studies […]. On the other hand, Emotion Regulation scores were associated only with the child’s victimization status and gender. Thus in this study, parental factors appeared to have contributed only to some dimensions of children’s ER, namely behaviors associated with underregulation of emotion such as display of exuberance, temper tantrums, and impulsivity. In the final equation of the regression analysis for Lability/Negativity, CSA became nonsignificant, while maternal history of CSA and distress remained significant contributors. This seems to indicate that for manifestations of underregulation of emotion, parental factors may even be more relevant than the victimization status of the child. Distressed parents and parents with a past history of CSA might be less available to support their children following CSA disclosure. In the present study, 50.0% of sexually abused children’s mothers presented with clinical levels of distress, and 41.8% of them reported a history of CSA. In this context, […] children could be displaying more disturbing behaviors to gain their parents’ attention and support.» (p. 183)