Coping & psychological functioning in domestic violence survivors.
Griffing, S., Lewis, C.S., Chu, M., Jospitre, T., Sage, R.E., Madry, L. & Primm, B.J.
Urban Resource Institute/Urban Women’s Retreat/Urban Women’s New Beginnings (August, 2003).

Research suggests that survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are at risk of revictimization by remaining in abusive relationships in adulthood. We explored differences between CSA survivors and non-CSA survivors in patterns of coping with domestic violence, and levels of depression and self-esteem in a sample of 102 domestic violence survivors. Consistent with our hypotheses, CSA survivors reported significantly greater use of two forms of disengaged coping: wishful thinking and self-criticism. CSA survivors also reported higher levels of depressive symptomatology and lower self-esteem than non-CSA survivors. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed.