Date of Award

5-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Research Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Scott A. Gustafson

Second Advisor

Julie S. Costopoulos

Third Advisor

Theodore G. Petersen

Fourth Advisor

Heidi Hatfield Edwards

Abstract

Sibling sexual abuse is the most common yet least reported, treated, and studied manifestation of child sexual abuse (Bertele & Talmon, 2023; Caffaro & Conn-Caffaro, 2005; Krienert & Walsh, 2011; O’Brien, 1991). It is a particularly challenging form of intrafamilial sexual abuse for parents and caregivers because their children are both the victim and the perpetrator of the abuse. They struggle to balance the needs of both children (Duane et al., 2002; Tener et al., 2020) and may experience heightened stress and associated psychological difficulties. Parenting stress is linked to child and adolescent posttraumatic stress and internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors (Crusto et al., 2010; Whitson et al., 2015; Whitson & Kaufman, 2017); however, there is no body of research investigating the impact of sibling sexual abuse on parenting stress. This study aimed to examine how sibling sexual abuse relates to parenting stress. It also sought to determine the relationship between sibling sexual abuse and child and adolescent posttraumatic stress and internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. The study found a significant positive relationship between sibling sexual abuse and parenting stress for caregivers of adolescents. Caregivers of adolescents who experienced sibling sexual abuse also reported significantly greater stress pertaining to their concerns about their adolescent's emotions and behaviors. Additionally, sibling sexual abuse was found to be significantly negatively correlated with internalizing symptoms for children but not for adolescents. These findings have implications for the treatment of sibling sexual abuse and provide support for a family treatment model.

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