larson2005

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10.1177/0192513X04270474 JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES / May 2005 Larson, LaMont / CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE

The Relationship of Childhood Sexual Abuse to the Marital Attitudes

and Readiness for Marriage of Single Young Adult Women

JEFFRY H. LARSON Brigham Young University

CRAIG LAMONT Telos Residential Treatment Center

This study investigated the relationship of childhood sexual abuse to marital attitudes and perceived readiness for marriage in single young adult women. A total of 622 women from three universities in the United States completed questionnaires on sexual abuse, attitudes and feelings about marriage, and readiness for marriage. After controlling for age, childhood sexual abuse was found to be related to more negative attitudes about marriage, more negative feelings about marriage, less readiness for marriage, and a longer perceived waiting period before marriage. Implications for premarital counseling and education for victims of childhood sexual abuse are discussed.

Keywords: childhood sexual abuse; marital attitudes

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is now recognized as a problem many women experience sometime during their lives. Estimates are that 27%

of women in the United States have been sexually abused as children (Finkelhor, Hotaling, Lewis, & Smith, 1990). CSA has been related to greater psychological symptoms, sexual dysfunctions, and problems in the development and maintenance of relationships in adulthood (Bartoi &

Kinder, 1998; Busby, Glenn, Steggell, & Adamson, 1993; Davis &

Petretic-Jackson, 2000; Liem, O’Toole, & James, 1996). Elliott and Briere (1992), Finkelhor, Hotaling, Lewis, and Smith (1989), and Russell (1986) have shown that women with a history of CSA are more likely than nonvictims to separate from or divorce their partners. The purpose of the

415 Authors’Note:Requests for reprints should be sent to Jeffry H. Larson, Marriage & Family Therapy Program, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602. The authors thank the Fam- ily Studies Center at Brigham Young University for its grant in support of this research.

JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES, Vol. 26 No. 4, May 2005 415-430 DOI: 10.1177/0192513X04270474

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present study was to examine one possible link between the psychological and relationship problems of CSA women and their higher rates of relationship dissolution. Our thesis was that CSA is related to negative feelings about marriage, negative attitudes about marriage, and a perception of less readiness for marriage. These problems, then, contribute to the dissolution of one’s marriage.

Attitudes, feelings, and readiness for marriage are important to study because they form the basis for the decisions of whom to marry, when to marry, and later, marital expectations and behavior (Arcus, 1987; Fine &

Hovestadt, 1984; Larson, 1988). Perceived readiness for marriage is also a significant predictor of later marital satisfaction (Holman, Larson, &

Harmer, 1994). Premarital attitudes and feelings about marriage form the basis of relationship expectancies. As relationship expectancy, pessimism may influence how an individual behaves in a current or future relationship with an intimate partner. For example, if a person expects that intimate partners (e.g., spouse) cannot be trusted (a frequent problem for CSA women), she will likely self-disclose less, be less affectionate, and worry more about the relationship and its future. Thus, expectations may become self-fulfilling prophecies. Negative attitudes and feelings may also lead individuals to either expect very little or too much in relationships (Larson, 1988).

THEORETICAL CONTEXT

The theoretical context for the present study was family development theory (Carter & McGoldrick, 1999) and role theory (Burr, Leigh, Day, &

Constantine, 1979). Family development theory emphasizes that individuals and the family system pass through predictable stages of development. Each phase or stage of development is important for proper development. If certain conflicts are not resolved, lessons learned, cognitive abilities gained, or family transitions made, then later, life tasks may be impeded. There are many stressful situations or experiences that can hinder healthy development for the individual and the family. CSA is one such traumatic experience that can seriously affect a child and her normal developmental cycle.

The major development tasks for single young adult women are to develop intimate dating relationships and begin preparing for marriage (Carter & McGoldrick, 1999). There are a plethora of negative effects linked to CSA that may be expected to complicate this phase of the life cycle. Mistrust, poor self-esteem, anger, hostility, depression, anxiety,

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isolation, an external locus of control, weak personal boundaries, and shame are common characteristics of young adult women with histories of CSA (Briere, 1989; Busby Glenn, Steggell, & Adamson, 1993;

Finkelhor, 1990). There is strong reason to believe that if a woman has experienced CSA and these resultant symptoms, she will have more difficulty accomplishing these developmental tasks than a woman who has not been sexually abused.

Role theory posits that marital role expectations in American culture emphasize both instrumental functions (e.g., providing an income) and affective functions (e.g., expressions of intimacy, affection, and self- disclosure; Galvin & Brommel, 1996). The repression of affective processes, such as self-disclosure and emotional awareness, that is related to CSA in women may create feelings of vulnerability and anxiety for them just when they are trying to develop competency in the affective dimen- sion of the marital role. These women may be expected to have problems with self-role congruence (Burr et al., 1979). Self-role congruence refers to the degree of overlap or fittingness that exists between the requirements of the role (e.g., spouse) and perceived qualities of the self. Sometimes, enacting a role requires that a person behave in a manner that is incongru- ent with his or her self-concept. Extreme incongruence between one’s beliefs about self-expectations and role expectations can create severe anxiety in the individual. Applying this concept of self-role congruence to CSA women and readiness for the marital role, we can postulate that the requirements of the marital role discussed earlier (e.g., intimacy and self- disclosure) are in conflict with the CSA women’s self-concept and value system (e.g., “don’t trust” and “don’t get close”). This incongruence may be expected to cause anxiety in CSA women as they contemplate and prepare for the marital role. The resultant effect will be negative attitudes about the institution of marriage, negative feelings about the marital role (e.g., frustration, anxiety, or fear), and low perceived readiness for marriage.

LITERATURE REVIEW

It is beyond the focus of this study to review the multiple studies that have focused on the long-term negative effects of CSA on young adult women. However, it is important to distinguish long-term effects from ini- tial effects (Finkelhor, 1990). Long-term effects are those effects that occur or persist after 2 years from the end of the abuse. Some of the most common and most devastating long-term effects reported in the literature

Larson, LaMont / CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE 417

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include poor self-esteem, sexual dysfunction, fear, shame, depression, self-destructive behavior, anxiety, feelings of isolation and stigma, sub- stance abuse, difficulty trusting others, and ambivalence about closeness and vulnerability (Beitchman et al., 1992; Briere, 1992; Browne &

Finkelhor, 1986; Busby et al., 1993; Cole & Putnam, 1992; Courtois, 1988; Davis & Petretic-Jackson, 2000; Murray, Bolen, Miller, &

Simensted, 1993). Elliot (1994) used object relation’s developmental theory to study the adult interpersonal relationships of older (age 40) CSA women and found that they have problems with bonding, trust, hypersen- sitivity, reciprocity, flexibility, and personal boundaries. These effects were maintained even after controlling for the quality of their family-of- origin environment. Mullen, Martin, Anderson, Romans, and Herbison (1994) found that CSA women were less able than nonvictims to confide personal concerns to their partner and discuss them and were more likely to say they had no meaningful communication with their partner on an intimate level.

The multitude of potential negative effects on the personal adjustment and interpersonal functioning was expected to damage young adult CSA women’s attitudes and feelings about marriage, to lower their perceived readiness for marriage, and to hinder their confidence in and progress toward assuming the role of wife in marriage. The specific hypotheses tested in this study were as follows:

1. CSA will be related to more negative attitudes toward marriage in young adult women.

2. CSA will be related to more negative feelings about marriage in young adult women.

3. CSA will be related to less readiness for marriage in young adult women.

METHOD

PARTICIPANTS

The participants in this study were 622 never-married single female college students enrolled in marriage preparation or introductory psychology classes at three major U.S. universities in the Mountain West, the South, and the West Coast. Of the 622 female students, 128 (21%) reported having been sexually abused as children (up to age 18). For the purpose of this study, sexual abuse was limited to physical touch forms of abuse (e.g., intercourse or fondling). Of the 128 young women reporting

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abuse, 34 (27%) reported that a nonfamily member had fondled them as a child, 32 (25%) reported being forced to have intercourse with a nonfamily member, and 27 (21%) reported that a nonfamily member had made them touch him or her. The remaining 35 women had been sexually abused by family members: 22 (17%) were fondled, 11 (9%) were forced to touch, and 2 (1%) were forced to have intercourse.

The age range of this sample was 18 to 25, with a mean age of 20.0 years (SD= 1.9). Other important demographic information is contained in Table 1. In general, this was a sample of middle-class to upper middle- class young adult Caucasian (78.4%) women who were mostly Catholic or Protestants. There were no significant differences between the CSA women and the nonvictims on any demographic variables.

The data were collected as part of a study on young adult development.

Researchers sent questionnaires to professors in the three geographic areas. Professors asked students to complete the questionnaires as class assignments or as extra credit. The students were told that the purpose of the research was to study childhood background characteristics related to their development as young adults. Informed consent was obtained before students completed the questionnaires in class. The participants remained anonymous to the researchers.

Instruments

CSA. The measure of the occurrence of CSA originated from the Severity of Abuse Scale (SAS) (Wyatt & Mickey, 1987). The original scale was modified and shortened to include only touch-related sexual abuse items. This reflects previous research (Beitchman et al., 1992) that has shown that the most detrimental type of sexual abuse involves physical touch (e.g., fondling or intercourse). This is because touch abuse is a distinctly more intimate and traumatic event than nontouch abuse and is, hence, more likely to negatively affect women (Beitchman et al., 1992).

Respondents checked yes or no to items measuring sexual abuse from family and nonfamily members, such as “a nonfamily member has had unwanted intercourse with me” and “a family member has made me touch his or her genitals.” Using this scale, respondents could score from 0 (never abused in any way) to 7 (abused in several ways).

Wilkin (1992) combined a clinical and community sample to determine the alpha reliability of the SAS. She found the full scale had an alpha of .77. She also calculated concurrent validity with a subscale of the trauma symptom checklist –33, which measures post-sexual-abuse

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TABLE 1

Sample Demographic Characteristics (N= 622)

Demographic Variable M SD Frequency of Total%

Age 20.0 1.9 622 100.0

Current year in college

Not enrolled 4 0.6

Freshman 137 22.0

Sophomore 181 29.1

Junior 148 23.4

Senior 152 24.4

Family of origin income

Less than 20,000 42 6.7

20,001 to 40,000 104 16.8

40,001 to 60,000 147 23.6

60,001 to 80,000 131 21.0

80,001 to 100,000 75 12.1

100,001 to 120,000 43 6.9

120,001 to 140,000 28 4.7

140,001 to 160,000 14 2.4

Greater than 160,000 38 6.3

Religion

Protestant 237 37.8

Catholic 149 23.8

LDS 105 16.8

Other 69 10.8

Eastern 58 9.3

Jewish 4 0.6

Ethnicity

Caucasian 487 78.4

Asian 42 6.7

African American 30 4.8

Hispanic 25 4.1

Native American 15 2.4

Other 21 3.4

Polynesian 2 0.3

Hometown population

Less than 10,000 117 18.8

10,001 to 50,000 159 25.5

50,001 to 100,000 94 15.1

100,001 to 500,000 123 19.8

500,001 to 1,000,000 65 10.5

Greater than 1,000,000 64 10.4

NOTE: LDS = Latter-Day Saints.

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trauma, and found a correlation of .53 with the post-sexual-abuse trauma.

The abbreviated 7-item Likert-type scale used in the present research had an internal consistency reliability of .75 (Cronbach’s alpha).

Marriage attitudes and feelings. We measured both attitudes or beliefs and feelings about marriage. The 9-item Likert-type scale, Marital Atti- tude Scale (Greenberg & Nay, 1982), was used to measure perceived possible difficulties in giving up a single life, success in marriage, and having a happy and enjoyable marriage. Internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) for this scale was .80. The items have face validity (Larson, 1988).

The second 5-item Likert-type scale measured feelings related to marriage and consisted of an affect-adjective checklist scale. The respondents were asked to choose between two opposite feelings when considering marriage (i.e., quarrelsome vs. agreeable, frustrating vs. satisfying, un- comfortable vs. comfortable, demanding vs. easy, and happy vs. tense) and circle their response on a scale from 1 to 7 (1 =quarrelsome, 7 = agreeable). Such semantic differentiation has been shown to be effective in assessing valuative reactions and affective responses (Piotrowski &

Dunham, 1984). Internal consistency reliability for this scale was .81 (Cronbach’s alpha).

Readiness for marriage. Perceived readiness for marriage was measured two ways. The first readiness-for-marriage scale was a 6-item Likert-type scale that assessed perceptions of overall readiness for marriage. Questions asked about financial, sexual, emotional, and overall marital readiness as well as a perception of maturity for marriage.

Respondents responded by marking their answers on a 5-point scale, from 1 = never to 5 = very often. Internal consistency reliability was .87 (Cronbach’s alpha). A second single item was used to further assess readiness for marriage (Larson, Benson, Wilson, & Medora, 1998). Respon- dents were asked to estimate at what age they felt they would feel ready to get married. An absolute value was obtained by subtracting the respondents’ age from the age they reported they would feel ready for marriage.

This was referred to as a marital readiness waiting period and reflected a need for more time to prepare for marriage.

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RESULTS

The independent variable of concern in this study was CSA. There were three dependent variables: marital attitudes, feelings, and readiness for marriage. The demographic independent variable that served as a control variable was respondent’s age. Age was included because of its positive relationship to marital readiness (r= .23,p< .001). That is, older individuals were more likely than younger individuals to report readiness for marriage. Two other demographic variables—family income and parental marital status (intact or nonintact)—were found to be unrelated to the dependent variables (r= .04 and .03, respectively).

Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between CSA and age and the dependent variables. Although CSA scale scores could range from 0 to 7, the range of CSA scores for the abused sample was 1 to 4, with most respondents (79%) reporting one form of abuse. First, a correlation matrix was created using all the variables of interest (see Table 2). Modest but significant correlations were found between the dependent variables. Significant correlations were also found between all independent and dependent variables. The strongest correlation was between age and the waiting period before marriage (r= –.45,p<

.001). In comparison, the relationship between CSA and the waiting period before marriage was smaller but significant (r= .12,p< .01). For all other correlations between independent and dependent variables, CSA correlations were slightly higher than those for age (see Table 2).

Each hypothesis was tested using a hierarchical regression procedure.

The control variable (age) was entered first in the regression equation fol- lowed by the independent variable of interest, CSA. The first hypothesis that (after controlling for age) CSA would be related to more negative attitudes toward marriage was supported (see Table 3). Likewise, the second hypothesis was also supported (i.e., CSA was significantly related to more negative feelings about marriage; see Table 3). To test the third hypothesis, readiness for marriage was measured in two ways: (a) perceptions of readiness and (b) perceived waiting period before marriage. In both cases, CSA was related to less readiness for marriage (see Table 3). CSA women’s waiting period before marriage was 5.6 years (SD= 2.1), compared to the nonvictims waiting period of 4.2 years (SD= 2.8). In three of the four regression equations, CSA explained slightly more of the total variance in the dependent variables than age. For waiting period, age explained more of the total variance (see Table 3).

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423 TABLE 2 Correlation Matrix, Means, Standard Deviations, and Ranges for Independent and Dependent Variables (N= 622) Waiting VariableAgeCSAAttitudesa Feelingsb Readinessc PeriodMSDRange Age1.0020.01.918to 25 CSA0.09**1.000.830.110to 7 Attitudes0.06*0.12***1.0019.773.869to 31 Feelings0.06*–0.10**–0.55***1.0026.974.287to 35 Readiness0.23***–0.24***–0.52***0.29***1.0013.833.296to 30 Waiting period–0.45***0.12**0.36***–0.18***–0.59***1.004.702.400to 10 NOTE: CSA = Childhood Sexual Abuse. a. The higher the score, the more negative the attitudes. b. The higher the score, the more positive the feeling.

c. The higher the score, the more readiness for marriage. *p< .05. **p< .01. ***p< .001.

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TABLE 3 Multiple Regression Results for Marital Attitudes and Readiness for Marriage Regressed on Age and Child Sexual Abuse (N= 622) Dependent VariableIndependent VariableBetaStandardized BetaFdf∆R2 Cum AttitudesAge.12.051.01 CSA.42.12*4.39**2.02.03 FeelingsAge–.14–.061.01 CSA–.50–.11*3.95*2.03.04 ReadinessAge.72.111.02 CSA–.85–.15*4.77**2.04.06 Waiting periodAge–.55–.47***1.12 CSA.17.09*85.33***2.02.14 NOTE: The higher the score on the attitude scale, the more negative the attitude. The higher the score on the feelings scale, the more positive the feelings. *p< .05. **p< .01. ***p< .001.

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DISCUSSION

These results support family development theory and role theory in that traumatic experiences, such as CSA, appear to be negatively related to one of the important developmental tasks for single young women (i.e., preparation for marriage). More specifically, the results suggest that CSA may lead women to believe that adjustment to marriage is difficult, conflict is a problem, and their marriages will be unhappy. CSA was related to doubting one’s chances of having a happy marriage and thinking one was unlikely to find a suitable marriage partner. In short, they likely experienced self-role incongruency. CSA was also related to more negative feelings about marriage (e.g., feeling marriage would be more frustrating than satisfying, more demanding than easy, and more tense than happy). The abuse also was related to believing one was not financially, emotionally, and sexually ready to get married and wanting to wait approximately 1.5 years longer before marrying.

Although CSA was significantly related to the dependent measures, the results may not reflect the actual strength of the relationship between CSA and the dependent variables because of the nature of the sexual abuse measure used. More specifically, the frequency or the duration of abuse was not considered, and the variance in abuse scores ranged from only 1 to 4 for the abused group, with most abused women (79%) marking only one type of abuse. In addition, the incidence of abuse was measured, but the perceived trauma from the abuse was not.

There are several limitations of this study. Because the participants were nonclinical college students and mostly Caucasian, the generaliz- ability of the findings is limited. College women, compared to other young adult women, tend to be brighter, higher functioning, more edu- cated, and from higher income families. They probably planned to delay marriage more than non-college-attending young women. Furthermore, they were more likely than non-college-attending young women to have completed a marriage preparation course before participating in the study.

Thus, an important question to answer is “will these same results be found in a non-college-attending sample of young adult women?”

Another limitation of this study is the use of retrospective reports of CSA. It is possible that some young women in the sample may have re- pressed their memories of abuse. For others, the accuracy of their reports related to the kinds of sexual abuse they experienced may have been affected by the passage of time since the abuse occurred. In addition, married or cohabiting women from both groups (CSA and non-CSA) were excluded from the sample. Future research should focus on the attitudes

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and beliefs about marriage of these two groups, too. It would be interest- ing to know, for example, if CSA is positively related to cohabitation. This is important to know because research on cohabitation suggests it is related to problems with trust and commitment to marriage and more positive beliefs about divorce (see Waite & Gallagher, 2000, for a comprehen- sive review of the cohabitation literature).

There were no moderating variables included in the present study that may have been responsible for lowering the relationship between CSA and the dependent variables (e.g., personal therapy, family of origin support, and personal coping processes). Future research should test the potential positive effects of such moderating variables on victims’ marriage attitudes, feelings, and readiness for marriage.

This research adds a link to the explanation of high separation and divorce rates for CSA women. Young women with more negative attitudes and feelings and less readiness for marriage intuitively are more likely to report lower marital satisfaction and adjustment scores after marriage and, eventually, higher separation and divorce rates than those who do not.

Carnelly and Jannoff-Bulman (1992) support this relationship by noting the self-fulfilling power of expectancies:

As a relationship expectancy, optimism may influence how an individual behaves and interprets information when interacting with romantic partners. Thus, people who are pessimistic about the future success of their intimate relationships may unknowingly contribute to a break-up through their actions, whereas those who are optimistic may contribute to the longevity and success of relationships. (p. 6)

The present research did not deal with the question of whether CSA was related to marrying at earlier ages. Holman and Li (1997) found no support for the speculation that young adults from unhappy family backgrounds may rush into marriage to get away from their past. If readiness for marriage is an indicator of the desire to rush into marriage, the present research also does not support the idea that young adult women with traumatic backgrounds rush into marriage as an escape. This study was related to increased cautiousness about marriage as reflected in a 1.5-year longer waiting period before marriage for CSA women. However, it should be noted that although the results reported here suggest that victims of trauma, such as CSA, are not prepared to marry and may, in fact, postpone marriage because of a lack of perceived readiness and negative attitudes and feelings about marriage; the relationship between marital attitudes and readiness for marriage and actual age at marriage is not yet under-

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stood. It is possible that those who have experienced trauma, such as CSA, may have negative attitudes and feelings and yet still marry younger than nonvictims. Future research should focus on age at marriage for CSA women as age at marriage is one of the most significant predictors of later marital satisfaction (Holman et al., 1994).

Future studies on CSA and attitudes and readiness for marriage should be expanded to include CSA males and couples. An important question to ask is “do the negative attitudes, feelings, and low readiness for marriage of CSA women (or men) spill over onto their partners, too?” Nelson and Wampler’s (2000) recent study of secondary traumatization in married couples in which the wife had experienced CSA or physical abuse showed the mutual influence of CSA on her husband; that is, the husband also developed psychological symptoms of depression, anxiety, and interpersonal sensitivity and reported lower marital adjustment than husbands married to nonvictims. Such mutual influence may also occur premar- itally, further lowering the couples’ chances for marital adjustment and success.

The findings that CSA was related to more negative beliefs about marriage should be further investigated to determine what other negative or unrealistic beliefs CSA women may have about marriage. For example, Larson (1992) identified several common, unrealistic beliefs about mate selection, including the perfect relationship belief (a couple should prove its relationship will work before getting married), the perfect partner belief (until a person finds the perfect person to marry, they should not be satisfied), and the perfect self-belief (a person should feel totally compe- tent as a future spouse before they decide to get married). Interviewing CSA women to discover if they have such beliefs could lead to important intervention strategies in therapy and premarital counseling.

Young adult CSA women and their partners seeking premarital counseling may benefit from the results of this study. For example, if she is hes- itant to get married, the couple’s relationship may be damaged because of frustration and misunderstanding about the hesitancy. If the couple is informed about the normal difficulties (i.e., more negative feelings and attitudes about marriage and less readiness for marriage) experienced by these women when they are close to marriage, both partners might view their situation with less shock and turmoil and more patience and understanding.

Therapists working with young women with abnormally negative attitudes and feelings and low readiness for marriage are advised to include questions about CSA, alcoholism in the family, general family dysfunction, and parental divorce in their premarital assessments. These traumatic

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backgrounds have been shown to negatively affect offspring’s marriage attitudes, feelings, and readiness for marriage (Fine & Hovestadt, 1984;

Larson, 1988; Larson et al., 1998; Tasker, 1992). Marriage preparation workshops and college and community marriage education courses would all do well to include information about the possible relationship between CSA and marital attitudes, feelings, and readiness as appropriate.

By providing such information to single young adult women, educators and clinicians will invite more self-awareness in their students and clients that may eventually lead to better coping skills to deal with abuse issues before marrying.

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