Relationships with mothers and peers moderate the association between childhood sexual abuse and anxiety disorders

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the current study was to assess whether relationships with mothers and peers moderate the association between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and anxiety disorders. That is, positive and supportive experiences were expected to minimize the effects of CSA whereas nonsupportive experiences were expected to magnify them. METHOD: Participants from a large, stratified, multistage-area, probability community sample provided retrospective reports of CSA and childhood relationships with mothers and peers and a modified version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview produced life-time psychiatric diagnoses of four non-phobic anxiety disorders after the age of 18. RESULTS: Utilizing multiple-regressions, a two-way interaction found that for those reporting low levels of friendship quality there was a stronger link between CSA and the number of diagnosed anxiety disorder than those reporting high levels of friendship quality. In addition a three-way interaction found that those reporting to have no friends and a low quality mother-child relationships had the strongest association between CSA and the number of diagnosed anxiety disorders, while those reporting to have many friends and a high quality relationship had the weakest association. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from the current study suggest that relationships with friends and parents may play an important role in understanding the links between childhood sexual abuse and later anxiety disorders and that these relationships may also be important sources of protection against the negative effects of childhood sexual abuse.