Influence of childhood abuse on implicit and explicit self-esteem among children in Sichuan

Abstract

Objective To investigate association between childhood abuse and self-esteem among children in Sichuan.

Methods A total of 700 students aged 10-16 years from four cities of Sichuan were selected through stratified random sampling method. All the participants were investigated with Screen Questionnaire of Child Abuse (SQCA), the Self-esteem Scale (SES) and the E-Prime based Implicit-Association Test (IAT).

Results The prevalence of childhood abuse in Sichuan is 11.3% (65/574). Among them, 55.4% reported one type of abuse experience, 29.2% reported two types and 15.4% reported 3 or more types of abusive experiences. The average level of explicit self-esteem for the total sample children ( x̄ = 28.92, higher than 26) was in the medium level. For children with abuse experiences, explicit ( t = −2.56, P<0.05) and implicit self-esteem ( t = −2.40, P<0.05) was significantly lower than average level of the total sample. Educational background of primary caregivers was positively associated with explicit self-esteem ( P<0.05). Gender and childhood abuse entered in the final regression model for implicit self-esteem ( F = 6.11, P< 0.01), and childhood abuse negatively correlated with implicit self-esteem ( t = −2.83, P<0.01).

Conclusion Children with abuse experiences are more likely to have low implicit self-esteem.

Abstract

【摘要】 目的 调査四川省儿童受虐和内隐与外显自尊的现状, 探讨儿童受虐和自尊之间的关系及其影响因素, 为 改善受虐儿童的心理健康状况提供参考。 方法 采用分层随机整群抽样方法抽取四川省 4 座城市 574 名学生 (10~16 岁), 通过自尊量表测量儿童外显自尊; 采用儿童受虐筛査表筛査出受虐儿童 (54 名) 及对照组 (63 名), 使用 E-Prime 实验 测量被试内隐自尊。 结果 四川地区儿童受虐筛査率为 11.3%, 受到 1 种虐待方式的儿童占 55.4%, 2 种占 29.2%, 3 种及 以上占15.4%。总样本儿童外显自尊平均水平 (28.92±5.58) 为自尊中等水平, 受虐儿童的外显自尊和内隐自尊水平均低 于总样本平均水平 ( t 值分别为 −2.56, −2.40, P 值均<0.05)。儿童的抚养人文化程度对外显自尊影响有统计学意义 ( F = 6.23, P<0.05), 抚养者文化程度越髙, 儿童外显自尊越髙。儿童性别和受虐情况进人内隐自尊的多元逐步回归模型 ( F = 6.11, P<0.01), 儿童受虐和内隐自尊呈负相关 ( t = −2.91, P<0.01)。 结论 抚养人的文化程度对儿童外显自尊产生影响, 儿童的受虐经历和性别对其内隐自尊产生影响。