Does Having Children Moderate the Effect of Child Sexual Abuse on Depression?

Abstract

Nearly 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys under the age of 18 will be the victim of child sexual abuse. As adults, these individuals are more likely to report myriad mental illnesses including depression. Testing the hypothesis that having children would moderate the depressive effects of child sexual abuse, the authors used public-use data of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health Wave IV (n = 5,114; mean age = 29.00 years; SD = 1.78). Results indicate that having children significantly moderates the relationship between child sexual abuse and depression for females. Though the risk of depression is increased for all females with a child sexual abuse history, this increase is less dramatic for mothers. Two potential explanations of this effect are presented: biological and psychosocial. The possible implications for mental health professionals working with mothers with a child sexual abuse history include highlighting the role of their children as possible support.

KEYWORDS:

• child sexual abuse
• depression
• motherhood
• parenting
• women

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Robert J. Zeglin

Robert J. Zeglin, MA, LGPC, NCC, is a doctoral candidate in counseling at the George Washington University.

Mary R. DeRaedt

Mary R. DeRaedt, MS, LPC, NCC, is a doctoral candidate in counseling at the George Washington University.

Richard P. Lanthier

Richard P. Lanthier, PhD, is an associate professor of human development at the George Washington University.