Emotional Betrayal From Child Sexual Abuse Measure (EBSCAM): A psychometric analysis

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the psychometric properties of a new scale, the Emotional Betrayal from Child Sexual Abuse Measure (EBCSAM), which assesses feelings of betrayal in adult survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA). Emotional betrayal is examined with respect to the perpetrator as well as others in the survivor's immediate environment (i.e., family, friends, etc.) during the time of the abuse.

METHOD

A sample of 342 CSA survivors were anonymously surveyed online in order to examine the psychometric properties of the EBCSAM.

RESULTS

The original 16-item measure did not produce a good-fitting model, nor was it considered reliable or valid. Instead, a shortened six-item measure produced a successful model, was reliable (overall Cronbach's α = .85), and exploratory/confirmatory factor analyses suggested two valid latent subscales (Perpetrator Betrayal and Environmental Betrayal).

CONCLUSION

This measure could be useful to clinicians treating survivors of child sexual abuse, as well as researchers, to reveal and evaluate aspects of emotional betrayal that impacted survivors.CSA). Emotional betrayal is examined with respect to the perpetrator as well as others in the survivor's immediate environment (i.e., family, friends, etc.) during the time of the abuse.

METHOD

A sample of 342 CSA survivors were anonymously surveyed online in order to examine the psychometric properties of the (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

"I Am A Living Testimony to the Human Spirit": A Thematic Analysis of Middle Aged and Older Adults' Resilience after Child Sexual Abuse

Despite extensive documentation of the adverse impacts of child sexual abuse (CSA), less is known about long-term effects of CSA, that is, the impact in middle and late adulthood, when one is further removed from the CSA. This study describes coping strategies and positive outcomes reported by adult female survivors of child sexual abuse ages 50+ (n = 58). Responses came from an anonymous online survey of adult survivors of CSA. We conducted a qualitative "RADaR" rapid analysis on the survey's open-ended questions. Survivors employed both internal attitudes and specific activities to cope with their childhood CSA. Most (n = 55) reported positive outcomes from CSA: self, others, and relational and/or emotive strengths. Due to survey limitations, we were unable to identify factors that contributed to survivors reporting positive outcomes and survivors who reported negative or no positive outcomes. This study suggests CSA survivors in middle and late adulthood may feel stronger as a result of abuse. More research is needed to identify factors that contribute to resilience.

Lessons Learned: Creation and Testing of a New Instrument (Sex Offenders Grooming Assessment) for Measuring Sex Offenders' Perceptions of Their Grooming Behaviors

Grooming is a process whereby an individual who plans to commit a sexual crime uses deception with the victim as well as the people in the environment (such as the victim's family members, the offender's family, etc.) so that the crime goes undetected. Despite the overwhelming presence of grooming in sexual crimes, there is a dearth of research on sex offenders' perceptions of their own grooming behaviors. This paper describes the psychometrics and lessons learned in the pilot study of testing and revising a new instrument for measuring sex offenders' perceptions of their grooming behaviors (Sex Offenders Grooming Assessment; SOGA), with a sample (n = 50) of convicted male sex offenders in community based specialized therapy. Analyses suggest that using behaviorally-specific questions yielded more reliable results than general categorical grooming questions. Understanding how sex offenders perceive and report their grooming behavior provides valuable insight critical to treatment and assessment.

Through the Eyes of a Child: Witnessing Childhood Trauma Is as Impactful as Experiencing Trauma for Polyvictimized Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

In this retrospective study of 244 adult survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA), their experiences of childhood polyvictimization were analyzed as to their cumulative effect on trauma symptoms, education, and income levels. The data were gathered by anonymously sampling adult survivors of CSA from websites that were specific to this population (such as online peer support groups). Their experiences of victimization were examined as to Cumulative Polyvictimization, Witnessing Traumas (such as witnessing intimate partner violence), and Experiencing Traumas (such as child physical abuse). The majority of the sample (87%) experienced polyvictimization in childhood (in combination with CSA), with the largest part of the sample (83%) experiencing emotional abuse by someone close to them, and the smallest part of the sample (22%) experiencing child physical abuse by someone with whom they were not close. The results of the linear regressions showed that both experiencing and witnessing trauma were significantly associated with trauma symptoms for CSA survivors. These results suggest that both types of victimization (experiencing and witnessing) need to be treated as direct traumas, and a more holistic approach toward survivors of CSA is needed toward assessment and treatment.

Grooming Hurts Too: The Effects of Types of Perpetrator Grooming on Trauma Symptoms in Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

There are a multitude of behaviors that child sexual abusers use to 'groom' children into becoming vulnerable to abuse. In this study of 277 adult survivors of child sexual abuse, participants advised the many ways they were groomed into being abused by up to three perpetrators. The effects of three categories of grooming (Verbal Coercion, Grooming that used Drugs/Alcohol, and Threatening/Violent Grooming) were examined for their effects on trauma symptom severity. Using Linear Regressions, each grooming category had a significant predictive effect on trauma symptom severity. Multiple Linear Regressions revealed that for most trauma symptoms, Threatening/Violent Grooming was a significant predictor of trauma symptom severity, even when other more well-known variables were controlled for (including age at onset of abuse, relationship to perpetrator, and severity of abuse), with a notable exception of verbal coercion as a significant predictor of sexual problems in adulthood (i.e. not satisfied, low drive, overactivity, confusion, bad thoughts or feelings).

Examining the relationship between higher educational attainment, trauma symptoms, and internalizing behaviors in child sexual abuse survivors

The trauma symptoms of child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors don't end with the abuse, or even with the advent of adulthood. Instead, these symptoms can persist into all the realms of a survivor's life, including education, which sets the foundation for career advancement. This retrospective study of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (n=260) examined the relationships between trauma symptoms, dissociation, dissociative amnesia, anxiety, depression, sleep problems and higher education attainment. The purpose of this study was to determine if these factors are associated with higher education completion for childhood sexual abuse (CSA) survivors. Linear regressions and ANOVAs suggest that many of these variables are significantly associated with survivors' educational trajectory, and multiple linear regressions show that trauma symptoms (as measured by the Trauma Symptom Checklist-40), caregivers' education levels, and age at onset of abuse are significant predictors of decreased education levels. This information can provide insight into additional risk and protective factors for CSA survivors in order to enhance acute and long-term management of trauma symptoms to increase levels ofattainment of higher education.

Cardiovascular disease risk following a 758 km pilgrimage

Millions of people participate in pilgrimages around the world such as the Camino de Santiago. However, few studies have examined the effects of this type of activity on cardiovascular disease risk factors. The aim of this study is to evaluate changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors: c-reactive protein, cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, and cardiorespiratory fitness levels following a 758 km, 30-day pilgrimage. 11 healthy male and female subjects between the ages of 18-56 participated in pre and post pilgrimage blood pressure and blood tests, as well as pre, during, and post pilgrimage weight, skin-fold, and aerobic fitness testing. Heart rate monitors and pedometers provided maximum, average, and minimum heart rates as well as distances covered during the exercise. The mean daily walking distance was 25 km at an average intensity of 55.96% (±1.93%) of maximum heart rate. Statistically significant changes were seen in body weight (79.3 kg±3.4 pre vs. 76.4±2.98 post, p<0.05), body fat percentage (24.48%±2.31% pre vs. 23.01%±2.12 post, p<0.05), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (119±3.82/75±2.73 pre vs. 110±5.07/69±3.10 post, p<0.05), as well as cardiorespiratory fitness. These data suggest that some cardiovascular disease risk factors can be improved in healthy subjects participating in a low intensity, long duration, high frequency activity such as a walking pilgrimage.

Child sexual abuse survivors with dissociative amnesia: what's the difference?

Although the issue of dissociative amnesia in adult survivors of child sexual abuse has been contentious, many research studies have shown that there is a subset of child sexual abuse survivors who have forgotten their abuse and later remembered it. Child sexual abuse survivors with dissociative amnesia histories have different formative and therapeutic issues than survivors of child sexual abuse who have had continuous memory of their abuse. This article first discusses those differences in terms of the moderating risk factors for developing dissociative amnesia (e.g., age, ethnicity, gender, etc.) and then mediating risk factors (e.g., social support, trait dissociativity, etc.). The differences between the two types of survivors are then explored in terms of treatment issues.

Alternative splicing, muscle contraction and intraspecific variation: associations between troponin T transcripts, Ca2+ sensitivity and the force and power output of dragonfly flight muscles during oscillatory contraction

The flight muscles of Libellula pulchella dragonflies contain a mixture of six alternatively spliced transcripts of a single troponin T (TnT) gene. Here, we examine how intraspecific variation in the relative abundance of different TnT transcripts affects the Ca2+ sensitivity of skinned muscle fibers and the performance of intact muscles during work-loop contraction regimes that approximate in vivo conditions during flight. The relative abundance of one TnT transcript, or the pooled relative abundance of two TnT transcripts, showed a positive correlation with a 10-fold range of variation in Ca2+ sensitivity of skinned fibers (r2=0.77, P&lt;0.0001) and a threefold range in peak specific force (r2=0.74, P&lt;0.0001), specific work per cycle (r2=0.54; P&lt;0.0001) and maximum specific power output (r2=0.48, P=0.0005) of intact muscle. Using these results to reanalyze previously published data for wing kinematics during free flight, we show that the relative abundances of these particular transcripts are also positively correlated with wingbeat frequency and amplitude. TnT variation alone may be responsible for these effects, or TnT variation may be a marker for changes in a suite of co-regulated molecules. Dragonflies from two ponds separated by 16 km differed significantly in both TnT transcript composition and muscle contractile performance, and within each population there are two distinct morphs that showed different maturational trajectories of TnT transcript composition and muscle contractility. Thus, there is broad intraspecific variability and a high degree of population structure for contractile performance phenotypes, TnT ribotypes and ontogenetic patterns involving these traits that affect locomotor performance.

Functioning of the Drosophila orb gene in gurken mRNA localization and translation

The orb gene encodes an RNA recognition motif (RRM)-type RNA-binding protein that is a member of the cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein (CPEB) family of translational regulators. Early in oogenesis, orb is required for the formation and initial differentiation of the egg chamber, while later in oogenesis it functions in the determination of the dorsoventral (DV) and anteroposterior axes of egg and embryo. In the studies reported here, we have examined the role of theorb gene in the gurken (grk)-Drosophila epidermal growth factor receptor (DER) signaling pathway. During the previtellogenic stages of oogenesis, the grk-DER signaling pathway defines the posterior pole of the oocyte by specifying posterior follicle cell identity. This is accomplished through the localized expression of Grk at the very posterior of the oocyte. Later in oogenesis, thegrk-DER pathway is used to establish the DV axis. Grk protein synthesized at the dorsal anterior corner of the oocyte signals dorsal fate to the overlying follicle cell epithelium. We show that orb functions in both the early and late grk-DER signaling pathways, and in each case is required for the localized expression of Grk protein. We have found thatorb is also required to promote the synthesis of a key component of the DV polarity pathway, K(10). Finally, we present evidence that Orb protein expression during the mid- to late stages of oogenesis is, in turn, negatively regulated by K(10).

Molecular phylogenetic analysis of evolutionary trends in stonefly wing structure and locomotor behavior

Insects in the order Plecoptera (stoneflies) use a form of two-dimensional aerodynamic locomotion called surface skimming to move across water surfaces. Because their weight is supported by water, skimmers can achieve effective aerodynamic locomotion even with small wings and weak flight muscles. These mechanical features stimulated the hypothesis that surface skimming may have been an intermediate stage in the evolution of insect flight, which has perhaps been retained in certain modern stoneflies. Here we present a phylogeny of Plecoptera based on nucleotide sequence data from the small subunit rRNA (18S) gene. By mapping locomotor behavior and wing structural data onto the phylogeny, we distinguish between the competing hypotheses that skimming is a retained ancestral trait or, alternatively, a relatively recent loss of flight. Our results show that basal stoneflies are surface skimmers, and that various forms of surface skimming are distributed widely across the plecopteran phylogeny. Stonefly wings show evolutionary trends in the number of cross veins and the thickness of the cuticle of the longitudinal veins that are consistent with elaboration and diversification of flight-related traits. These data support the hypothesis that the first stoneflies were surface skimmers, and that wing structures important for aerial flight have become elaborated and more diverse during the radiation of modern stoneflies.

Alternative splicing, muscle calcium sensitivity, and the modulation of dragonfly flight performance

Calcium sensitivity of myosin cross-bridge activation in striated muscles commonly varies during ontogeny and in response to alterations in muscle usage, but the consequences for whole-organism physiology are not well known. Here we show that the relative abundances of alternatively spliced transcripts of the calcium regulatory protein troponin T (TnT) vary widely in flight muscle of Libellula pulchella dragonflies, and that the mixture of TnT splice variants explains significant portions of the variation in muscle calcium sensitivity, wing-beat frequency, and an index of aerodynamic power output during free flight. Two size-distinguishable morphs differ in their maturational pattern of TnT splicing, yet they show the same relationship between TnT transcript mixture and calcium sensitivity and between calcium sensitivity and aerodynamic power output. This consistency of effect in different developmental and physiological contexts strengthens the hypothesis that TnT isoform variation modulates muscle calcium sensitivity and whole-organism locomotor performance. Modulating muscle power output appears to provide the ecologically important ability to operate at different points along a tradeoff between performance and energetic cost.

Aerial performance of Drosophila melanogaster from populations selected for upwind flight ability

A computerized system for three-dimensional tracking of large numbers of individual free-flying insects was used to assess the performance of Drosophila melanogaster from populations that had undergone 160 generations of selection for upwind flight ability. Compared with control lines, the selected lines showed significant increases in mean flight velocity, decreases in angular trajectory and a significant change in the interaction between velocity and angular trajectory. Maximal flight velocity was apparent as a sharply defined upper boundary of the distribution of horizontal and vertical velocity as a function of angular trajectory; this upper bound (0.85 ms-1) differed little between the selected and control lines, although individuals from the selected lines attained maximal performance levels much more frequently. Maximum induced power output was calculated directly from the product of maximum vertical velocity and body weight. This measure (28 W kg-1 muscle) was closely predicted by a scaling relationship derived from the load-lifting limits of larger insects and vertebrates, as well as tethered D. melanogaster stimulated via their optomotor reflex to produce maximal lift. These results indicate that selection for flight performance can readily alter the relative effort and/or the frequency of phenotypes capable of attaining population-wise maximal performance levels, but shows little ability to increase population-wise maximal performance.

The Surface of Mars: The View from the Viking 2 Lander

Viking 2 lander began imaging the surface of Mars at Utopia Planitia on 3 September 1976. The surface is a boulder-strewn reddish desert cut by troughs that probably form a polygonal network. A plateau can be seen to the east of the spacecraft, which for the most probable lander location is approximately the direction of a tongue of ejecta from the crater Mie. Boulders at the lander 2 site are generally more vesicular than those near lander i. Fines at both lander sites appear to be very fine-grained and to be bound in a duricrust. The pinkish color of the sky, similar to that observed at the lander I site, indicates suspension of surface material. However, the atmospheric optical depth is less than that at the lander I site. After dissipation of a cloud of dust stirred during landing, no changes other than those stemming from sampling activities have been detected in the landscape. No signs of large organisms are apparent at either landing site.