@article{ref1,
title="Does maternal support mediate or moderate the relationship between sexual abuse severity and children's PTSD symptoms?",
journal="Journal of child sexual abuse",
year="2020",
author="Wamser-Nanney, Rachel and Sager, Julia C. and Campbell, Claudia L.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="Maternal support and abuse severity are often considered to be vital factors in predicting children's functioning following childhood sexual abuse (CSA); however, much of the prior research has examined support and abuse severity as main effects, without consideration of how these factors may interrelate to predict children's post-CSA functioning. Further, even though mediators and moderators are conceptually distinct, maternal support has been theorized to be both a mediator and a moderator of symptoms, and it is unclear if support acts as either among sexually abused children. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether caregiver-reported maternal support mediates or moderates the relationships between sexual abuse severity and children's trauma-related symptoms. The study included 235 treatment-seeking children ages 3-16 (<i>M</i> = 8.85, <i>SD</i> = 3.77) and their non-offending mothers. Contrary to expectations, caregiver-rated maternal support did not mediate nor moderate the relationship between abuse severity and children's symptoms (range <i>r<sup>2</sup></i> =.002 -.03). Caregiver-rated maternal support may play a small role in mitigating sexually abused children's trauma symptoms. Irrespective of abuse severity, children with less supportive mothers may not be at heightened risk for experiencing higher levels of trauma-related difficulties.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1053-8712",
doi="10.1080/10538712.2020.1733160",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2020.1733160"
}