Object relations of women sexually abused in childhood: A TAT investigation.
Item
-
Title
-
Object relations of women sexually abused in childhood: A TAT investigation.
-
Identifier
-
AAI9917708
-
identifier
-
9917708
-
Creator
-
Valls, Glorianna.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: Diana Diamond
-
Date
-
1999
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Psychology, Clinical | Women's Studies | Psychology, Developmental | Psychology, Behavioral | Psychology, Personality | Psychology, Social
-
Abstract
-
This study explores the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and object relations in adulthood. Subjects were 30 women with a reported history of childhood sexual abuse by a father or father figure. All participants completed a Sexual Abuse Questionnaire, a demographic questionnaire, the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI, Derogatis & Spencer, 1982) and were administered the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT, Murray, 1943).;Using a correlational design, seven abuse characteristics were compared with four dimensions of object relations functioning as measured by Westen's (1990) Social Cognition object Relations Scale (SCORS), applied to the TAT. The seven abuse-related variables examined were: age of onset, degree of physical intrusiveness, degree of forceful coercion, duration, frequency, degree of maternal support upon disclosure and sense of intimacy with perpetrator prior to abuse onset.;Correlational analyses revealed that age of onset of sexual abuse significantly related to two aspects of object relations functioning, in the predicted direction: earlier age of onset was related to more malevolently-toned representations (r = .38, p = .04). and with a decreased capacity to invest in relationships and moral standards (r = .53, p = .003). Surprisingly, the degree of physical intrusiveness of abuse correlated with more complex object representations (r = .44, p = .018).;Post-hoc analyses revealed a significant interaction effect, with women who had disclosed the abuse to their mothers and who had experienced more intrusive forms of abuse producing the most malevolently toned object representations (Beta = -.20, t = -2.23, p = .038).;The current study's findings lend empirical support to the idea that more severe forms of sexual abuse are associated with more problematic functioning in adulthood. The major findings of the present study indicate that the effects of trauma are not monolithic and that the differential effects of trauma on object relations can be successfully detected with projective tests. The value of the SCORS in assessing various domains of object relational functioning is indicated.;Findings are interpreted from an object relations perspective. Implications for clinical theory and practice are discussed. Suggestions for future research include replication with a larger sample size.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
