1. Objectifs

Intentions :
« The main purpose of the current study was to evaluate the relationship between early abusive experiences (sexual abuse, parental violence, and witnessing parental violence) and subsequent couple adjustment with a theoretical model that incorporates attachment and psychological distress as mediator variables. We specifically examined the variability in long-term psychosocial characteristics of child abuse survivors across women and men. » (p. 744)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
« Participants were 316 men and 316 women who composed a representative sample of French-Canadian couples. They were either married (n = 202) or cohabiting (n = 114), and had been living together for more than six months. The couples had been living together for an average of 13 years. » (p. 746)

Instruments :
- « [A] shortened version of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS; Spanier, 1976, translated to French by Baillargeon, Dubois, & Marineau, 1986). » (p. 746);
- « [T]he Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire (ECR; Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998, translated to French by Lafontaine & Lussier, 2003). » (p. 747);
- « [T]he shortened version of the Psychiatric Symptom Inventory (PSI; Ilfeld, 1976, 1978) » (p. 747).

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

« Structural equation analyses showed that, for both women and men, sexual abuse was related to dyadic adjustment through anxiety about abandonment and psychological distress. For men, experiencing physical or psychological violence was associated with dyadic adjustment through psychological distress. For women, there was an indirect relationship between witnessing physical violence and dyadic adjustment through abandonment anxiety. Differences between men and women in the long-term adjustment to childhood sexual abuse were small and not consistent with a gender-specific model of psychosocial repercussions. » (p. 744)