Abstract

GOMES, Regiane Aparecida Baú; ANTUNES, Maria Cristina  and  CORTEZ, Pedro Afonso. SYMPTOMS OF POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER, DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY IN MOTHERS OF SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIMS. Revista Internacional CONSINTER de Direito [online]. 2023, n.17, pp.743-763.  Epub Feb 28, 2024. ISSN 2183-6396.  https://doi.org/10.19135/revista.consinter.00017.35.

Considered a global social and public health problem that is far from over, child sexual abuse has psychological consequences for victims and their families. The objective of this research was to analyze the occurrence of symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression in mothers and to verify if such symptoms were related to the symptoms of their children who suffered sexual abuse. 65 mothers of children aged between 6 and 18 years old, recruited through social networks and support groups, participated in this research. The following instruments were applied: Child Behavior Checklist; Beck Anxiety Inventory; Beck Depression Inventory; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist and Questionnaire with sociodemographic data and characteristics of sexual abuse. Data collection was carried out online through Google Forms. The results showed severe and moderate levels for anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress in 70.8% of the sample of participants. Multiple linear regression analyzes were performed, demonstrating that sociodemographic variables, intrafamilial sexual abuse, mother having suffered sexual abuse and the CBCL variables were not predictors of anxiety and depression symptoms in mothers. For the mothers' post-traumatic stress symptoms, it was observed that the somatic complaints of the children were predictors, explaining 70.8% of the outcome. It is concluded that most of the symptoms presented by children who suffered sexual abuse are not related to the symptoms of the mothers, showing that the occurrence of sexual abuse in itself is a factor of illness for mothers.

Keywords : sexual abuse; post-traumatic stress disorder; anxiety; depression; non-offending parents.

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