Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-wq484 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T18:10:48.763Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The classroom performance and behavior of sexually abused females

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008

Penelope K. Trickett ,
Catherine McBride-Chang  and
Frank W. Putnam
Penelope K. Trickett*
Affiliation:
University of Southern California
Catherine McBride-Chang
Affiliation:
University of Southern California
Frank W. Putnam
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Penelope K. Trickett, Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1061.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study examines the relationship of child sexual abuse to classroom academic performance and behavior in a sample of 6–16-year-old girls. Half of the sample was sexually abused by a family member. The other half is a demographically similar nonabused comparison group. Measures of academic performance include school records, teacher's ratings of classroom behavior and performance, and parental reports of school performance. Possible mediators of the impact of sexual abuse on classroom performance and behavior – cognitive capability, perceived competence, and behavior problems–are also measured. Results can be summarized as follows, (a) A history of sexual abuse does predict academic performance: Abuse is directly negatively related to ratings of classroom social competence, competent learner, and overall academic performance and positively related to school avoidant behavior, but is not related to grades, (b) Sexual abuse is negatively related to cognitive ability and positively related to measures of behavior problems indicating depression, destructiveness, and dissociation, (c) Cognitive ability and perceived competence predict the more “academic” aspects of academic performance—grades, ratings as a competent learner, and overall academic performance. Behavior problems predict ratings as a competent learner, classroom social competence, school avoidant behavior, and overall academmic performance.

Type
Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , Winter 1994 , pp. 183 - 194
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aber, J. L., & Allen, J. P. (1987). The effects of maltreatment on young children's socioemotional development: An attachment theory perspective. Developmental Psychology, 23, 406–414.Google Scholar
Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. S. (1983). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and Revised Child Behavior Profile. Burlington, VT: Queen City Printers.Google Scholar
Asher, S. R., & Coie, J. D. (Eds.). (1990). Peer rejection in childhood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Barnett, D., Manly, J. T., & Cicchetti, D. (1993). Defining child maltreatment: The interface between policy and research. In Cicchetti, D. & Toth, S. L. (Eds.), Child abuse, child development, and social policy (pp. 7–73). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Beitchman, J. H., Zucker, K. J., Hood, J. E., da-Costa, G. A., & Akman, D. (1991). A review of the short-term effects of child sexual abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 15, 537–556.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Browne, A., & Finkelhor, D. (1986). Impact of child sexual abuse: A review of the research. Psychological Bulletin, 99, 66–77.Google Scholar
Conte, J. R., & Schuerman, J. R. (1987). Factors associated with an increased impact of child sexual abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 11, 201–211.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunn, L., & Dunn, L. (1981). Manual for the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Revised. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.Google Scholar
Eckenrode, J., Laird, M., & Doris, J. (1993). School performance and disciplinary problems among abused and neglected children. Developmental Psychology, 29, 53–62.Google Scholar
Einbender, A. J., & Friedrich, W. N. (1989). Psychological functioning and behavior of sexually abused girls. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 155–157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Erickson, M. F., Egeland, B., & Pianta, R. (1989). The effects of maltreatment on the development of young children. In Cicchetti, D. & Carlson, V. (Eds.), Child maltreatment: Theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect (pp. 647–684). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelhor, D., Hotaling, G. T., Lewis, I. A., & Smith, C. (1989). Sexual abuse and its relationship to later sexual satisfaction, marital status, religion, and attitudes. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 4, 379–399.Google Scholar
Harter, S. (1982). The Perceived Competence Scale for Children. Child Development, 53, 87–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hightower, A. D., Spinell, A., Lotyczewski, B. S. (1985). Primary mental health project teacher-child rating scale (T-CRS) guidelines. Rochester, New York: Unpublished Manuscript.Google Scholar
Hollingshead, A. F. (1975). Four Factor Index of Social Status. Working paper, Department of Sociology, Yale University, New Haven, CTGoogle Scholar
Kendall-Tackett, K. A., Williams, L. M., & Finkelhor, D. (1993). Impact of sexual abuse on children: A review and synthesis of recent empirical studies. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 164–180.Google Scholar
National Center for Child Abuse and Neglect. (1988). Study of national incidence and prevalence of child abuse and neglect: 1988. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Google Scholar
Putnam, F. W., Helmers, K., & Trickett, P. K. (1993). Development, reliability, and validity of a child dissociation scale. Child Abuse and Neglect, 17, 731–740.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rubin, D. B. (1991). EM and beyond. Psychometrika, 241–254.Google Scholar
Russell, D. E. H. (1986). The secret trauma: Incest in the lives of girls and women. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Taylor, A., & Trickett, P. K. (1989). Teacher preference and children's sociometric status in the classroom. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 35, 343–361.Google Scholar
Tong, L., Oates, K., & McDowell, M. (1987). Personality development following sexual abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 11, 371–383.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trickett, P. K. (1983). The interaction of cognitive styles and classroom environment in determining first-graders' behavior. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 4, 43–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trickett, P. K. (1993). Maladaptive development of school-aged, physically abused children: Relations with the child rearing context. Journal of Family Psychology, 7, 134–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trickett, P. K., Aber, J. L., Carlson, V., & Cicchetti, D. (1991). Relationship of socioeconomic status to the etiology and developmental sequelae of physical child abuse. Developmental Psychology, 27, 148–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trickett, P. K., McBride, C., & Horn, J. L. (1993). Using the Child Behavior Checklist in developmental research. Submitted for publication.Google Scholar
Trickett, P. K., & McBride-Chang, C. (1993). The developmental impact of different forms of child abuse and neglect. Submitted for publication.Google Scholar
Vondra, J., Barnett, D., & Cicchetti, D. (1989). Perceived and actual competence among maltreated and comparison school children. Development and Psychopathology, 1, 237–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar