Early Memories from Outpatients With and Without a History of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Abstract

This study examined the relation between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and object relations in adulthood. Early memory narratives from 79 outpatients seeking individual psychotherapy at a community clinic were coded using Westen's (1995) Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS). Differences in functioning between those outpatients who reported CSA and those with no history of CSA were compared. Initial findings suggested that there were no group differences between CSA survivors and no-CSA clinical controls on the SCORS variables. However, when this clinical group was organized into no-CSA, low-severity CSA (no penetration), and high-severity CSA (oral, anal, or vaginal penetration) groups, analyses demonstrated that the high-severity CSA survivors had a significantly poorer understanding of social causality.

Notes

¹Callahan and colleagues (2003) used a subsample (n = 51) of the data from the present study (N = 79) to examine object relations and CSA using SCORS ratings from patients' “relational narratives told during psychotherapy” (as opposed to SCORS ratings from early memory narratives in the current study). Callahan and Hilsenroth (2005) also used a subsample (n = 67) of the current data. However, Callahan and Hilsenroth (2005) did not utilize the SCORS, and they examined defensive functioning (from relational narratives told during the assessment process) as opposed to object relations impairments. Thus, all analyses used for this study are unique and presented only in the current study.

Note. All group comparisons were nonsignificant (p > .05). GAF = Global Assessment of Functioning; GSI = Global Severity Index.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jenelle M. Slavin

Jenelle Slavin holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Middlebury College. She is currently working toward her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University. Her primary research interest is personality assessment.

Michelle B. Stein

Michelle Stein holds a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology from the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University and is currently working toward her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, also at Adelphi. She is a student member of the Society for Personality Assessment as well as Society for Psychotherapy Research. Her research interests include personality assessment, with a specific focus on narrative data, especially early memories and the clinical utility of The Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS).

Janet H. Pinsker-Aspen

Janet Pinsker-Aspen received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University. She currently maintains a private practice in Stamford, CT.

Mark J. Hilsenroth

Mark J. Hilsenroth received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Tennessee and a Diplomate from the American Board of Assessment Psychology (ABAP). He is currently an Associate Professor at the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University. His areas of research interest are personality assessment, training/supervision, psychotherapy process, and treatment outcome.