A Typological Analysis of Behavioral Profiles of Sexually Abused Children

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Abstract
A cluster analysis is used to explore differential outcomes in 123 French Canadian children reporting sexual abuse contrasted with 123 control children. Mothers' reports of behavioral problems on the Child Behavior Checklist, abuse-related variables, personal factors, and family characteristics are used as potential variables discriminating clusters. Results reveal four clusters: (a) anxiety constellation group refers to children displaying behavior problems on a subset of scales, (b) the severe distress group refers to children showing a broader array of behavior problems, (c) victims of less severe sexual abuse (SA) group consists of children disclosing mostly extrafamilial SA, and (d) resilient children refers to children who, while disclosing severe abuse, rely less on avoidance coping. Findings underscore the need to go beyond abuse-related variables to orient treatment for children disclosing sexual abuse and for tailoring interventions to distinct subgroups.