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Thought Control Strategies as Mediators of Trauma Symptoms in Young Women with Histories of Child Sexual Abuse

OBJECTIVE: The current retrospective study examined thought control strategies, or cognitive techniques individuals use to deal with unpleasant thoughts following stressful events, as potential mediators of adjustment in young women with histories of child sexual abuse (CSA).

METHODS: In a sample of 76 undergraduate women who self-reported on abuse experiences, thought control stratagies associated with greater reported use of worry and punishment strategies and less use of social control strategies; (ii) Increased use of worry and punishment strategies following the CSA event was associated with greater levels of trauma symptoms, while increased use of social control strategies following the CSA event was associated with lower levels of trauma symptoms; and (iii) Worry, punishment, and social control strategies served as mediators between CSA severity and trauma symptoms.

RESULTS: The results suggest that thought control strategies, specifically increased worry and punishment, and decreased social control, play a vital role in understanding adjustment after CSA.




Authors: Scarpa A , Wilson LC , Wells AO , Patriquin MA , Tanaka A .
Virginia Tech, Psychology, 109 Williams Hall, College of Sciences, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0436, United States



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