Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Childhood Sexual Abuse, Other Childhood Factors, And Pathways To Survivors’ Adult Relationship Quality, Eric C. Walker, Thomas B. Holman, Dean M. Busby

Faculty Publications

We were interested in understanding how the effects of childhood sexual abuse, in concert with other negative childhood experiences, were carried forward into adult romantic relationships. Data from 15,831 married or cohabitating individuals were gathered via the RELATE Questionnaire. Empirical research, attachment theory, and a general model of adult relationship quality suggested that the path from negative childhood events to adult relationship quality was mediated by a number of individual and relational affect-laden variables. Results showed that childhood abuse and other family-of-origin variables work primarily through the adult survivor’s perceptions of the events of his or her childhood. This “current …