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Biomedical subjects

Linda M Williams

Publications and source records attributed to Linda M Williams.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Relational outcomes of childhood sexual trauma in female survivors: a longitudinal study.

This longitudinal study examines the effects of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) on the intimate and marital relationships of adult survivors from a sample composed primarily of African American women. In addition, the authors explore the protective role of maternal support. Interview data are collected on 136 women with documented histories of CSA who indicate the quality and nature of their current marital relationships and other interpersonal connections. Results suggest that CSA survivors with poor maternal attachment are more likely to enter into marital or cohabiting relationships. However, more severe sexual trauma in childhood correlates with greater marital dissatisfaction. Good maternal attachment during childhood has a negative main effect on adult interpersonal problems and a buffering effect on the relationship between abuse and marital dissatisfaction. These data can help guide future research on the adult relational outcomes of female CSA survivors, especially among minority populations.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Researcher-advocate collaborations to end violence against women: toward liberating methodologies for action research.

This article relies on literature from the field and on research conducted by the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center to describe the difficulties encountered in collaborations between researchers and advocates working on the prevention of violence against women. The article summarizes guidelines for collaboration that have been suggested by many researchers and advocates, and it makes the claim that a feminist approach to liberating methodologies for action research is needed to increase the likelihood of successful collaborations.

Battered Women↗
PubMed2004

Childhood sexual abuse: a gender perspective on context and consequences.

Literature on gender and child sexual abuse (CSA) has highlighted patterns of similarity and difference among survivors and the need for further research. This study relied on gender analysis of 128 women and 69 men, obtained through an examination of childhood hospital records, to further examine gender differences in mental health outcomes among abuse survivors and correlates of mental health outcomes including professional help seeking, family environment, and other trauma exposure. Overall, men and women were similar in the context and consequences of CSA. The role of the characteristics of CSA and contextual variables in explaining variance in mental health for 106 male victims and nonvictims was also examined. Among male participants, number of incidents of sexual abuse, injury at the hands of a caregiver, and exposure to other traumas significantly explained higher levels of an array of mental health symptoms. Implications for future research are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

The impact of complex trauma and depression on parenting: an exploration of mediating risk and protective factors.

The current study examined (a) maternal depression as a mediator between mothers' complex trauma exposure and parenting difficulties and (b) protective factors within a sample of adult survivors of complex child and adult trauma. Participants were a sample of 152 women selected from 174 women interviewed in the third wave of a longitudinal study of a hospital sample of girls. The women in the current study represent a subsample that includes all participants who had given birth to a child. Measures included assessments of women's own trauma history and parenting outcomes. Higher rates of trauma exposure were related to decreased parenting satisfaction, reports of child neglect, use of physical punishment, and a history of protective service reports. These links were partially mediated by the relationship between trauma exposure and increased maternal depression. Exploratory analyses were also conducted to examine protective factors for fewer parenting problems within a further subsample of trauma survivors.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Mentoring college-age women: a relational approach.

Despite the popularity of mentoring programs, the relational dimension of mentoring has not been elucidated. Traditional conceptions of mentoring may exclude factors that are particularly important for women and girls, thus limiting the efficacy of mentoring programs for female adolescents. We suggest that the presence of relational qualities in the mentoring relationship (e.g., empathy, engagement, authenticity, and empowerment) strongly influences the success of mentoring in the lives of young women. In this study, we use a promising new measure of mentoring, the Relational Health Index - Mentor, to explore the impact of relational aspects of mentoring in female college students. We found that mentoring relationships high in relational qualities were associated with higher self-esteem and less loneliness

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Re-traumatization among adult women sexually abused in childhood: exploratory analyses in a prospective study.

The current exploratory study examined a variety of risk factors related to re-traumatization, defined broadly, in a prospective sample of women who were sexually abused in childhood. Eighty women, who were part of a larger longitudinal study of the effects of child sexual abuse, were interviewed at three points in time: in childhood and at two points in early adulthood. Risk factors were measured at the second interview and used to predict reported trauma exposure between interviews two and three. Given theoretical arguments for differences in risk factors based on ecological context, analyses were conducted separately for married and unmarried women. Situational and intrapersonal risk factors such as homelessness and depression were predictive of re-traumatization risk while reported social support satisfaction was a protective factor. Reports of trauma exposure between interviews two and three were related to mental health symptoms.

Adolescent↗