Citation

Roemmele M, Messman-Moore TL. J. Child Sex. Abus. 2011; 20(3): 264-283.

Affiliation

Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10538712.2011.575445

PMID

21660814

Abstract

Previous research suggests that individuals abused as children are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior during adulthood. The present study examined early maladaptive schemas as mediators of the child abuse-risky sexual behavior relationship among 653 college women. Self-report surveys assessed three forms of child abuse: Sexual, physical, and emotional, and assessed early maladaptive schemas within two domains: Disconnection/rejection and Other-Directedness. Disconnection/rejection schemas fully mediated the relation between child emotional abuse and number of sexual partners and partially mediated the relationship for sexual and physical abuse. However, when frequency of specific risky sexual acts (e.g., sex without contraception) was examined in the previous six months, only abandonment was a partial mediator. Implications for intervention and future research are discussed.

Language: en