PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS AMONG YOUTH EVALUATED FOR EXTRA-FAMILIAL ABUSE

Purpose: We examined potential discrepancies in perceived parental support and control between parents and adolescent runaways being evaluated for abuse at a hospital-based Child Advocacy Center (CAC). We also explored characteristics of abuse experiences, trauma responses, and risk behaviors might help predict any discrepancies in perception of the relationship.

Background: There has been limited research into how parents and adolescents appraise their relationship after youth experience extra-familial sexual assault, yet research has shown that supportive parental relationships can improve clinical outcomes for abused youth.

Methods:  A secondary analysis of data from initial abuse assessments conducted at a Midwestern CAC between 2007-2013 (N=632 dyads). Adolescents completed the Child’s Report of Parent Behavior Inventory (CRPBI) 18-item subscales for support and control (9 items each for mom and dad), and parents completed the 8-item parent version for themselves. Subscales were scored 1-5 (higher score=higher support or higher control). We tested the congruence in appraisal across parent and adolescent scores using paired t-tests, then linear regressions and ANOVAs to explore potential explanatory variables linked to discrepancy in both the support and control subscale scores. These included: demographic characteristics; abuse severity; family problem substance use; current emotional distress; mental health problems such as suicidality, self-harm, PTSD; and problem substance use.

Results: Scores on the parent and child inventories were normally distributed and generally congruent in their respective assessments of the relationship, although adolescents rated parental support slightly lower and parental control slightly higher on average than their parents did (mean difference -.17, t=3.96, p<.001; for control, .39, t=6.43, p<.001). Few variables predicted discrepancy between youth’s and parents’ support scores. However, for control score discrepancy, youth exposed to family violence or more severe sexual abuse (prostitution/multiple perpetrators) significantly rated parents more controlling/distrustful than parents did (all p<.01), more than youth not abused or youth victims of incest or single extra-familial assaults (all p<.001). Youth with high levels of emotional distress or substance use problems, Youth who reported strong connections to school, other caring adults, and who felt parents cared about them rated parents less controlling than parents self-rated.

Implications: Our study notes the diversity of parent-child relationships among youth assessed for abuse in a CAC, though perceptions are relatively consistent in each parent-child dyad. Overall, parents tended to rate the relationship slightly more positively than their child, which may be due to social desirability bias. There were more factors explaining discrepancies in perceived control than in perceived supportiveness; both aspects of relationships and their effects on recovery from abuse deserve further exploration. Researchers and clinicians may consider using the CRPBI as a tool to evaluate supportive and controlling behaviors of parents of abused youth. Clinically, parents of severely sexually abused youth may need help establishing developmentally appropriate expectations and discipline and improve their strategies to demonstrate support for their adolescent victim.