Longitudinal Relationships between Perceived Social Support and Symptom Outcomes: Findings from a sample of Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse.

Longitudinal Relationships between Perceived Social Support and Symptom Outcomes: Findings from a sample of Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse. Child Abuse Negl. 2020 Jun 08;107:104566 Authors: Steine IM, Winje D, Krystal JH, Milde AM, Bjorvatn B, Nordhus IH, Grønli J, Pallesen S Abstract INTRODUCTION: Cross-sectional studies have consistently reported an inverse association between perceived social support and the severity of mental health symptoms among adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). However, there is a lack of longitudinal studies investigating the bidirectional association between social support and the severity of symptoms among adult CSA-survivors, as well as the role of relational problems in predicting perceived social support and symptom levels over time. The present study addressed these questions in a sample of primarily female CSA-survivors. METHODS: In a three-wave, four-year longitudinal study of 506 CSA-survivors (94.9% women, 5.1% men) recruited from support centers for sexual abuse survivors in Norway, we used cross-lagged panel structural equation modeling to examine the directionality of the longitudinal associations between perceived social support and symptoms of posttraumatic stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia. RESULTS: Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed significant weak reciprocal associations between perceived social support and depression, posttraumatic stress...
Source: Child Abuse and Neglect - Category: Child Development Authors: Tags: Child Abuse Negl Source Type: research