1. ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Personal Mastery Buffers the Effects of Childhood Sexual
Abuse on Women’s Health and Family Functioning
Antonette King1
& Britney M. Wardecker2
& Robin S. Edelstein2
# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
Abstract Personal mastery has been associated with many
positive outcomes and may attenuate negative responses to
life stressors. Our research extends prior work by examining
whether personal mastery can buffer women from long-term
outcomes associated with childhood sexual abuse (CSA). We
expected that: (1) women with CSA histories would report
more depressive symptoms, poorer family functioning, and
more physical health problems compared to women without
such histories; (2) personal mastery would be associated with
better outcomes in these domains; and (3) personal mastery
would attenuate the effects of CSA on women’s outcomes.
Data were obtained from a larger study of parenting among
women with and without CSA histories. Our predictions were
fully supported for depressive symptoms and family dysfunc-
tion, and partially supported for physical health. The current
findings contribute to knowledge about the long-term effects
of CSA and identify a protective factor that may buffer the
negative sequelae of traumatic events.
Keywords Sexual trauma . Child maltreatment . Coping .
Longitudinal . Depression . Physical health
According to some estimates, nearly 25 % of women will
experience some form of unwanted sexual contact by the
age of 18 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2005). The experience of child sexual abuse (CSA) can result
in adverse outcomes for children (Kendall-Tackett et al. 1993;
Putnam 2003), and many of these outcomes have been shown
to persist into adulthood (Maniglio 2009). For instance,
compared with non-victims, former CSA victims tend to re-
port greater psychological distress, more difficulties in
interpersonal relationships, and more physical health
problems (e.g., Irish et al. 2010; Roberts et al. 2004).
Yet not all CSA survivors experience these adverse
consequences (e.g., Collishaw et al. 2007; Finkelhor et al.
1990), and it is equally important to understand why some
individuals are more resilient than others following traumatic
experiences (Rutter 2007). The goal of the present study was
to examine one potential buffer of long-term outcomes among
female CSA survivors: personal mastery, or a general sense of
control over one’s life circumstances (Pearlin et al. 1981).
Higher levels of personal mastery have been associated with
many positive outcomes, including better interpersonal
adjustment, individual well-being, and physical health (e.g.,
Gibson et al. 2011; Gurung et al. 2005; Roepke and Grant
2011). Although adverse events, such as child maltreatment,
can erode one’s sense that the environment is controllable,
people who feel a greater sense of mastery may be better
equipped to cope with the aftermath of traumatic experiences.
For instance, personal mastery has been shown to buffer
people from negative effects associated with life stressors
(e.g., economic hardship; Pudrovska et al. 2005).
To our knowledge, the potential benefits of personal
mastery have not been fully explored among sexual abuse
survivors. In the current study, women with and without
CSA histories were interviewed approximately 2 to 4 years
following the birth of their first child. Female CSA survivors
may face unique challenges during pregnancy, childbirth, and
parenting of their own children (Lev-Wiesel et al. 2009).
* Robin S. Edelstein
redelste@umich.edu
1
Department of Psychology, School of Social Work,
University of Michigan, 530 Church Street,
Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
2
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan,
530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
J Fam Viol
DOI 10.1007/s10896-015-9728-4

2. Thus, motherhood might be a particularly important context in
which to study the long-term effects of CSA (Benedict et al.
1999; Seltmann and Wright 2013) and the potential benefits of
personal mastery (Coleman and Karraker 1998). We expected
that women with higher levels of personal mastery would be
better able to cope in the aftermath of past and present
stressors, including CSA, which could buffer them from later
adverse outcomes. In the following sections, we first review
the relevant literature on the long-term effects of CSA. We
then consider the role that personal mastery might play in
attenuating these outcomes.
Effects of CSA on Depression, Family Functioning,
and Physical Health
Sexual abuse in childhood is a risk factor for later psycholog-
ical distress, interpersonal difficulties, and physical health
problems (e.g., Maniglio 2009). For instance, compared with
those who have not been victimized, CSA survivors are more
likely to experience psychological symptoms such as
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicidal thoughts, and
low self-esteem (e.g., Lev-Wiesel et al. 2009; Roberts et al.
2004). A particularly common symptom among CSA
survivors appears to be depression (Putnam 2003), which
can negatively impact not only abuse survivors but also their
families (e.g., Cummings and Davies 1994). Moreover, in
many studies, relations between CSA and mental health
outcomes exist even when potentially confounding factors,
such as family background and socio-economic status, are
statistically controlled (e.g., Fergusson et al. 2008; Roberts
et al. 2004), suggesting that sexual abuse per se is an important
risk factor.
Childhood sexual abuse exposure is also a risk factor for
later interpersonal problems, especially in the context of par-
ent–child relationships (DiLillo 2001; Roberts et al. 2004).
Childhood sexual abuse survivors report enjoying parenthood
less (Banyard 1997) and have less confidence in their
parenting skills (Roberts et al. 2004). They are also more
likely to use harsh parenting practices and physical violence
to discipline their children (Banyard 1997; DiLillo et al.
2000). Perhaps as a result, children of CSA survivors may
be more poorly adjusted than children of women who have
not been abused (Roberts et al. 2004). At least some of the
effects of CSA on parenting appear to be mediated by
maternal distress, including anxiety (Roberts et al. 2004) and
anger (DiLillo et al. 2000). Taken together, these findings
characterize the family environments of former CSA victims
as more negative, conflictual, and chaotic compared to those
of non-victims (DiLillo 2001; Kellogg et al. 2000).
Finally, women with CSA histories have been shown to
have more physical health complaints, including higher rates
of chronic pain, gastrointestinal problems, obesity, and
cardiopulmonary symptoms, compared to women without
such histories (Irish et al. 2010; Walker et al. 1988). Survivors
of CSA visit the doctor more frequently (Cunningham et al.
1988), go to the emergency room more often (Walker et al.
1999), and report more somatic grievances (Walker et al.
1988). Childhood sexual abuse exposure could impact
physical health through a variety of pathways, including
health behaviors (e.g., smoking), chronic experiences of
stress, or early dysregulation of stress-response systems (see
Irish et al. 2010, for review). Physical health problems may
also serve as additional stressors in the context of an already
stressful family environment (Mundy and Baum 2004).
In light of these findings, we expected that CSA survivors
in the current study would report higher levels of depression,
more family dysfunction, and more physical health problems
compared to women without abuse histories. However,
studies of the long-term effects of CSA also provide evidence
for resilience (Rutter 2007), in that not all formerly abused
participants demonstrate symptoms of distress (e.g., Finkelhor
et al. 1990). Many investigators have focused on characteris-
tics of the abuse as predictors of long-term outcomes (e.g.,
Beitchman et al. 1992), but it is also important to consider
differences in people’s abilities to cope with abuse and other
stressors (Holman and Silver 1996; Spaccarelli 1994). As de-
scribed next, the current study explored whether the relation-
ship between participants’ CSA histories and long-term
outcomes was moderated by one such coping resource,
women’s sense of personal mastery.
Personal Mastery as a Coping Resource
Childhood sexual abuse can be a significant life stressor for
those who experience it (Kendall-Tackett et al. 1993;
Spaccarelli 1994). Abusive experiences often persist over long
periods of time (Caffaro-Rouget et al. 1989) and they can lead
to other stressful life changes, such as removal from home and
legal intervention (e.g., Quas et al. 2005), which can exacer-
bate the harmful effects of the initial exposure (Spaccarelli
1994). As stressors accumulate, people may be less effective
in dealing with them, increasing the likelihood of illness,
disease, or psychological distress (Pearlin 1989). One factor
that determines an individual’s response to stressors is his or
her use of coping resources, or strategies that can be used to
regulate stress responses (Lazarus and Folkman 1984; Taylor
and Stanton 2007). Several researchers have argued that
coping resources should be considered in the analysis of
long-term responses to CSA (e.g., Spaccarelli 1994), particu-
larly as a pathway to resilience (Rutter 2007); however, few
studies have investigated coping resources that may buffer the
long-term effects of CSA exposure (see Walsh et al. 2010, for
a review). Moreover, those studies that have investigated
coping resources tend to focus on strategies that exacerbate
J Fam Viol

3. rather than ameliorate stress responses (e.g., avoidant coping
strategies, Fortier et al. 2009). In the current study, we focus
on personal mastery as a coping resource that may attenuate
stress responses.
Personal mastery refers to people’s beliefs about whether
they have control over what happens in their life (Pearlin et al.
1981). People with high levels of personal mastery feel a sense
of control over their life circumstances and their futures; they
have confidence that they can solve life problems and shape
their own outcomes. People with low levels of personal
mastery, in contrast, believe that they cannot control life
outcomes; they feel helpless or powerless to solve life prob-
lems and change their life circumstances. The construct of
personal mastery belongs to a larger category of control
beliefs, which includes perceived control, self-efficacy, and
locus of control (Haidt and Rodin 1999; Skinner 1996). These
constructs are generally conceptualized as coping strategies or
internal resources that people can draw upon in response to
stressors, and they are thought to be relatively stable over time
(Taylor and Stanton 2007). Although there are many overlaps
among these constructs (Skinner 1996), personal mastery has
been distinguished by its focus on generalized rather than
specific expectations about one’s ability to cope (e.g., Haidt
and Rodin 1999).
Personal mastery also has a long history in health research
(Taylor and Stanton 2007). In general, higher levels of person-
al mastery have been associated with better mental and
physical health (Lachman and Firth 2004; Roepke and Grant
2011); personal mastery can also lessen the negative effects of
life stressors, such as economic hardship (Lachman and
Weaver 1998; Pudrovska et al. 2005) and caregiving stress
(Mausbach et al. 2006). Mausbach et al. (2006), for instance,
examined the role of personal mastery among individuals
caring for spouses with Alzheimer’s disease. They found that
characteristics of the caregiving environment (i.e., patient
problem behaviors and role overload) were associated with
psychiatric symptoms only among caregivers with low levels
of personal mastery. For caregivers with high levels of person-
al mastery, there was no relation between these aspects of
caregiving and psychiatric outcomes.
A sense of personal mastery may therefore be particularly
important for people coping with past trauma. Traumatic
experiences, such as sexual abuse, can lead to feelings of
powerlessness and lack of control (Briere and Runtz 1993).
However, it is important to distinguish a generalized sense of
personal mastery from more specific attributions of responsi-
bility for a discrete past event (Frazier et al. 2005). That is,
those with higher levels of personal mastery would not
necessarily be expected to blame themselves for past negative
life events; rather, they should feel better equipped to cope
with the aftermath of such events. In fact, self-blame for past
trauma is generally unrelated to feelings of control over the
experience of future trauma (e.g., Frazier 2000). Self-blame
and perceived control are also differentially associated with
trauma-related outcomes; for example, greater distress is
associated with more self-blame and less perceived control
among female rape survivors (Frazier et al. 2005).
With respect to maltreatment specifically, perceived control
may attenuate the effects of abuse on internalizing problems in
children and adolescents (Bolger and Patterson 2001; Moran
and Eckenrode 1992). Research with adults similarly suggests
that greater perceived control is associated with fewer
symptoms of depression and anxiety among women with
histories of maltreatment (Banyard 1999; Porter and Long
1999). In these studies, associations between perceived con-
trol and later outcomes were generally stronger among
maltreated than non-maltreated individuals, suggesting that
beliefs about control are especially relevant in distressed or
victimized populations. It is important to note, however, that
in prior work, maltreatment was conceptualized broadly to
include neglect, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and/or
sexual abuse (e.g., Bolger and Patterson 2001). Thus, the
extent to which these findings apply to sexual abuse survivors
specifically is not entirely clear. Most past work also focused
exclusively on internalizing symptoms such as depression or
anxiety (e.g., Banyard 1999). The present study sought to
extend this work by examining personal mastery among adult
CSA survivors and by including measures of family function-
ing and physical health in addition to depression. We expected
that personal mastery would be a stronger predictor of positive
outcomes among women with CSA histories than among
those without such histories.
It is also worth noting that, in prior work, maltreated and
non-maltreated individuals have not generally differed in
their average levels of personal mastery or control (e.g.,
Hobfoll et al. 2002; Porter and Long 1999). Such findings
are consistent with the idea that personal mastery develops
out of a lifetime of experiences and circumstances, rather
than out of a specific (albeit traumatic) incident (e.g.,
Taylor and Stanton 2007). Along these lines, personal
mastery tends to be positively associated with contextual
factors such as socioeconomic status (SES) and education
(Lachman and Firth 2004; Taylor and Seeman 1999). For
these reasons, we included measures of SES and education
in the current analyses.
To summarize, based on previous research, we expected
that: (1) women with CSA histories would report more
depressive symptoms, poorer family functioning, and more
physical health problems compared to women without such
histories; (2) personal mastery would be associated with
better outcomes in these domains; and (3) associations
between personal mastery and these outcomes would be
stronger for women with CSA histories than for those
without. In other words, we expected that personal mastery
would attenuate the effects of CSA exposure on women’s
outcomes.
J Fam Viol

4. Method
The current study is a secondary analysis of data from a larger
study on the effects of CSA on attitudes, perceptions, and
behaviors towards parenting (Benedict et al. 1999). The study
was approved by the Institutional Review Board at John
Hopkins University, where the data were originally collected.
Data were obtained from the National Data Archive on Child
Abuse and Neglect.
Participants and Procedure
Participants in the current study were part of a sample
originally collected by Benedict et al. (1999). Benedict and
colleagues recruited women who registered for prenatal care
at two large, university-based prenatal clinics between
October 1990 and January 1992. Women were eligible to
participate in this original study if they were: (a) pregnant with
their first child and between 28 and 32 weeks gestation, (b)
English speaking, (c) planning to deliver at the university
hospital, and (d) free of any cognitive, communication, or
psychiatric disorders that prevented informed consent. Two
hundred and sixty-five women from the original study—the
focus of our current analyses—were re-interviewed between
1995 and 1996, when their children were between the ages of
two and four. All information relevant to the current report
was collected at this follow-up assessment. The majority of
interviews (81 %) were conducted face-to-face; the rest were
conducted via phone for participants living outside the study
area. The interview took approximately 1.5 h to complete and
participants received monetary compensation ($25).
Participants in the follow-up study ranged in age from 20
to 44. Fifteen percent of women reported being currently
partnered, and over 50 % of the sample had never been
married. Eighty-one percent of participants had at mini-
mum a General Educational Development (G.E.D.) certifi-
cate or a high school diploma, and 52 % of the sample was
currently employed. The majority of women were from a
lower socio-economic status: 40 % reported an annual in-
come lower than $15,000, 37 % reported an income be-
tween $15,000 and $30,000, and the rest reported an annual
income greater than $30,000. Benedict (1998) reported that
73 % of the 265 participants who completed the follow-up
interview were African American and that the remaining
participants were Caucasian; unfortunately, the archived
version of the dataset did not identify the ethnicity of indi-
vidual participants, so we were not able to include ethnicity
in any of our analyses.
Measures
Definition of Sexual Abuse Benedict et al. (1999) used an
adapted version of Russell (1983) history of sexual abuse
questionnaire to create dichotomized groups of sexually
abused and non-abused women. Following Russell (1983)
and other widely used definitions of sexual abuse (e.g.,
American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Adolescence
1994; Briere and Runtz 1993), CSA was defined as:
At least one contact or non-contact episode before the
age of 18; the perpetrator could be either family or
nonfamily, and had to be at least 5 years older than the
victim except in cases where force was reported. In
those situations, women were included regardless of
the age difference between perpetrator and victim.
Situations that appeared consensual or adolescent
experimentation were not considered abuse even though
the women described the experience as ‘unwanted’.
(Benedict et al. 1999, p. 662)
According to this definition, 107 women were classified as
having experienced sexual abuse before the age of 18. These
women did not differ from the other 158 women on any key
demographic variables, including age, education, and
ethnicity (see Benedict et al. 1999, for additional details about
the sample characteristics). Unfortunately, the archived
version of the dataset did not include any information about
abuse characteristics (e.g., frequency or duration of abuse,
relationship to the perpetrator), so we could not consider such
characteristics in our analyses.
Personal Mastery was measured with the Mastery Scale
(Pearlin and Schooler 1978), a seven-item measure of the
extent to which an individual feels they have control (vs. feel
powerless) over events in their lives. This scale has been
widely used in health research (Taylor and Seeman 1999).
Sample items include BI have little control over things that
happen to me^ and BI often feel helpless in dealing with the
problems of life.^ Responses range from 1 (strongly disagree)
to 4 (strongly agree). Items were averaged to create a total
score, with higher scores indicating higher levels of mastery.
Descriptive statistics for the personal mastery scale and all
other study measures are presented in Table 1.
Family Functioning was measured with the Family APGA
R (Smilkstein 1978). The Family APGAR, which is an
acronym for adaptability, partnership, growth, affection,
and resolve, is a five-item scale that assesses current family
support and functioning. The Family APGAR has been
used in many studies of family functioning, including in
samples of at-risk mothers (Reeb et al. 1987). Sample items
include, BI am satisfied with my family’s help^ and BMy
family and I enjoy time together.^ Responses range from 1
(almost always) to 3 (hardly ever). Items were averaged to
create a total score, with higher scores indicating more
dysfunction.
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5. Maternal Depression was measured with the twenty-item
Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D;
Radloff 1977). The CES-D is one of the most widely used
measures of depressive symptomatology in community
populations, and CES-D scores are strongly associated with
other measures of depression, including clinical diagnoses
(e.g., Boyd et al. 1982). Participants indicate the frequency
of various feelings during the past week, including having a
poor appetite, having trouble concentrating, and feelings of
loneliness. Responses range from 1 (rarely or none of the
time) to 4 (most or all of the time). Items were averaged to
create a total score, with higher scores indicating more
depressive symptoms.
Maternal Physical Health was measured using a five-item
subscale of the Parenting Stress Index (PSI; Abidin 1995).
Sample items include, BIn the past 6 months, I am sicker than
usual^ and BI feel physically good most of the time (reverse
scored).^ Responses range from 1 (strongly agree) to 5
(strongly disagree). Items were averaged to create a total
score, with higher scores indicating poorer physical health.
Demographic Variables Women’s age was reported in years.
Education was coded as: (1) did not complete high school (HS)
or G.E.D. (19 %); (2) obtained G.E.D. or HS diploma (40 %);
(3) some college education (27 %); or (4) post-college training
(14 %). Due to missing data (n=128) on annual income, we
used a marker of socioeconomic status in our analyses (created
by McGuigan and Middlemiss 2005), corresponding to
whether (52 %) or not (48 %) women received Aid to Families
with Dependent Children or food stamps in the previous year.
Results
Preliminary Analyses
Descriptive statistics and correlations among the primary
study variables are presented in Table 1. We expected that
women with a CSA history would report more depressive
symptoms, poorer family functioning, and more physical
health problems. This hypothesis was partially supported:
Compared to non-abused participants, those with a history
of CSA reported more family dysfunction and more
depressive symptoms. However, CSA history was not
associated with physical health symptoms. We also expected
that higher levels of personal mastery would be associated
with better outcomes. As shown in Table 1, our findings
supported this hypothesis: Personal mastery was negatively
correlated with family dysfunction, depressive symptoms,
and physical health complaints. In addition, consistent with
previous research, personal mastery was positively associated
with women’s education and SES but was not related to CSA
history. Personal mastery was also positively correlated with
women’s age. Of note, our demographic variables (age,
education, SES) were unrelated to CSA history; however, all
three demographic variables were negatively correlated with
depression and family dysfunction and were therefore includ-
ed in subsequent analyses.
Multivariate Analyses
Our third and primary hypothesis was that personal mastery
would buffer women from the negative sequelae of abuse.
Table 1 Descriptive statistics
and correlations among primary
study variables
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Sexual Abuse Status
Personal Mastery −0.02
Family Functioning 0.13* −0.33**
Depression 0.13* −0.45** 0.43**
Physical Health Symptoms 0.11 −0.34** 0.18** 0.39**
Age 0.07 0.13* −0.17** −0.24** 0.12
Education 0.03 0.27** −0.24** −0.24** 0.06 0.52**
Socioeconomic Status 0.02 0.27** −0.28** −0.32** −0.06 0.42** 0.53**
Mean – 1.88 1.50 1.58 3.63 27.00 2.35
Standard Deviation – 0.43 0.49 0.51 0.62 5.47 0.94
Internal Consistency (α) – 0.81 0.82 0.90 0.55 – –
Because of missing data for some variables, Ns range from 263 to 265. Child sexual abuse (CSA) Status: 0=no
CSA reported, 1=CSA reported; Age (in years); Education: 1=no G.E.D. or high school (HS) diploma,
2=G.E.D. or HS diploma, 3=some college experience, 4=post college training; Socioeconomic Status:
0=received aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) or food stamps in the previous year, 1=did not
receive AFDC or food stamps in the past year
*p<0.05
**p<0.01
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6. That is, we expected that CSA history and personal mastery
would interact to predict women’s outcomes. To test this
hypothesis, separate hierarchical regressions were conducted
predicting family functioning, depressive symptoms, and
physical health problems. Childhood sexual abuse status and
personal mastery were entered on the first step, along with the
covariates of women’s age, education, and income. The
interaction between CSA status and personal mastery was
entered on the second step. As is recommended (Cohen
et al. 2003), prior to creating the interaction term, CSA status
was dummy coded (0=no CSA history, 1=CSA history) and
personal mastery was centered.
Results from these regression analyses are presented in
Table 2. Consistent with the zero-order correlations and our
hypotheses, higher levels of personal mastery were associated
with fewer depressive symptoms, better family functioning,
and fewer physical health problems. A history of CSA was
also associated with more depressive symptoms and poorer
family functioning. Moreover, on the second step, the addition
of the interaction between CSA status and personal mastery
significantly increased the amount of variance explained for
the equations predicting depressive symptoms and family
functioning (see Table 2). This interaction was not a
significant predictor of women’s physical health symptoms.
We next decomposed the significant interactions between
CSA status and personal mastery. As depicted in Fig. 1, the
association between personal mastery and depressive
symptoms was stronger for women with abuse histories,
β=0.50, p<0.01, than for those without, β=0.27, p<0.01.
Similarly, as depicted in Fig. 2, the negative association
between personal mastery and family dysfunction was also
stronger for women with abuse histories, β=−0.45, p<0.01,
than for those without, β=−0.13, p=0.11. In other words, as
hypothesized, the effects of CSA history on family function-
ing and depressive symptoms were attenuated among women
with high levels of personal mastery.
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to examine a potential buffer of
negative outcomes among women with experiences of child
sexual abuse. We focused on CSA as an extrinsic childhood
stressor and on personal mastery as an intrinsic coping
resource that may help survivors cope with the negative
consequences of stressful experiences. Findings from the
current study contribute to knowledge about the long-term
effects of CSA and identify a protective factor—personal
mastery—that may buffer individuals from the sequelae of
negative life events.
In support of our hypotheses, women with prior CSA
exposure reported poorer family functioning and more
depressive symptoms, although CSA history was unrelated
to physical health symptoms. Findings regarding depressive
symptoms and family functioning are consistent with prior
research in suggesting that CSA exposure predicts adverse
Table 2 Regression analysis
predicting women’s outcomes Depressive Symptoms Family Functioning Physical Health
Predictor ΔR2 β ΔR2
β ΔR2
β
Step 1 0.28** 0.17** 0.16**
Age −0.09 −0.04 0.13
Education −0.12 −0.07 0.12
SES −0.11 −0.16* −0.09
CSA Status 0.14* 0.13* 0.09
Personal Mastery −0.37** −0.26** −0.31**
Step 2 0.02** 0.02** 0.01
Age −0.11
Education −0.10
SES −0.13
CSA Status 0.14*
Personal Mastery −0.24**
CSA Status X Mastery −0.20**
Total R2
0.31** 0.19**
N=263. Child sexual abuse (CSA) Status: 0=no CSA reported, 1=CSA reported; Age (in years); Education:
1=no G.E.D. or high school (HS) diploma, 2=G.E.D. or HS diploma, 3=some college experience, 4=post
college training; Socioeconomic Status (SES): 0=received aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) or
food stamps in the previous year, 1=did not receive AFDC or food stamps in the past year
*p<0.05
**p<0.01
J Fam Viol

7. long-term outcomes (Maniglio 2009). These differences are
particularly noteworthy given that women with and without
CSA histories were very similar in terms of age, income, and
education level, variables that predicted both family function-
ing and depressive symptoms. Even with these demographic
variables statistically controlled, CSA status independently
contributed to long-term outcomes. Also in support of our
hypotheses, personal mastery predicted better family function-
ing, fewer depressive symptoms, and better physical health.
Prior work similarly indicates that personal mastery predicts
better functioning in a variety of domains (Lachman and Firth
2004; Taylor and Stanton 2007). As with CSA history,
relations between personal mastery and women’s outcomes
remained significant even when potentially confounding
demographic variables were statistically controlled.
In addition to their independent effects, sexual abuse status
and personal mastery interacted to predict depressive
symptoms and family functioning. Specifically, the negative
effects of CSA were less evident among women with higher
levels of personal mastery, suggesting that personal mastery
may act as a buffer against deleterious outcomes of sexual
abuse. Perhaps women with higher levels of personal mastery
were better able to cope with daily stressors or more likely to
seek support from others when problems arose (e.g., Neupert
et al. 2007), leading to better family functioning and mental
health. Although such skills would likely benefit most women
in this sample, they may be particularly important for those
with the additional stressor of prior CSA exposure.
Findings from the current study dovetail with other
research suggesting that a sense of personal mastery or control
can help individuals cope with the harmful effects of life
stressors, such as caregiving for a spouse with Alzheimer’s
Disease (Mausbach et al. 2006). Control beliefs have also
been shown to attenuate the effects of child maltreatment on
1.4
1.6
1.8
2
2.2
CSA History No CSA HistoryFamilyFunctioning
Personal Mastery
Low Mastery
High Mastery
Fig. 1 The interaction between
personal mastery and child sexual
abuse status in predicting
depressive symptoms. Higher
scores indicate greater depression
according to the Center for
Epidemiologic Studies
Depression scale (CES-D).
Following procedures
recommended by Cohen et al.
(2003), regression lines are
plotted at one standard deviation
above and below the mean of
personal mastery for individuals
with and without histories of child
sexual abuse (CSA)
1.6
1.8
2
2.2
2.4
2.6
CSA History No CSA History
DepressiveSymptoms
Personal Mastery
Low Mastery
High Mastery
Fig. 2 The interaction between
personal mastery and child sexual
abuse status in predicting family
functioning. Higher scores
indicate poorer functioning
according to the Family APGAR
measure. Following procedures
recommended by Cohen et al.
(2003), regression lines are
plotted at one standard deviation
above and below the mean of
personal mastery for individuals
with and without histories of child
sexual abuse (CSA)
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8. internalizing problems in children (Bolger and Patterson
2001; Moran and Eckenrode 1992) and depression in adults
(Banyard 1999; Porter and Long 1999). Our findings extend
this work by demonstrating that personal mastery can serve as
a buffer of the long-term effects of child sexual abuse
specifically, and in the realm of family functioning in addition
to depression.
Yet it is important to note that personal mastery was
unrelated to women’s sexual abuse status in the current study,
suggesting that the experience of CSA did not necessarily
impede the development of personal mastery (see also Porter
and Long 1999). Research with children similarly suggests
that perceptions of control are largely unrelated to maltreat-
ment status (Bolger and Patterson 2001), although there is
some evidence that abuse that occurs earlier in life is
associated with lower perceived control (Moran and
Eckenrode 1992). In the current study, we did not have
information about the age at which women’s abuse occurred,
so we were unable to explore this possibility. However,
women’s mastery was positively associated with their level
of education and socioeconomic status, indicators that could
reflect broader, more general aspects of one’s social
environment. A sense of personal mastery is likely to facilitate
the attainment of educational opportunities and gainful
employment, but such experiences may also foster one’s sense
of personal mastery. Future work would benefit from investi-
gating the developmental precursors of mastery in abused and
non-abused populations.
Future work should also investigate the efficacy of
interventions targeted at increasing CSA survivors’ sense of
personal mastery. Broman (1995), for instance, found that
mastery was positively associated with use of preventative
health care. Empowering abuse survivors with a sense of
mastery might increase the probability that they seek support
from their community to help them cope with the effects of
CSA and other stressful life events. A greater sense of
personal mastery may also help survivors feel less stigmatized
about having been abused and about receiving mental health
services.
Of course, findings from the current study must be consid-
ered in light of the study’s limitations. First, our measure of
sexual abuse was based on self-reported information. Insofar
as women are reluctant to discuss sensitive issues such as CSA
or have difficulty retrieving CSA memories (e.g., Goodman
et al. 2003), our measure may have underestimated the
prevalence of CSA. It is also possible that some women who
were classified as abused did not actually experience sexual
abuse in childhood, perhaps due to false reports (e.g., Everson
and Boat 1989). Along these lines, we had access only to a
dichotomous variable reflecting whether or not participants
reported prior CSA. Although informative, this kind of
classification does not take into account the wide variety of
experiences that constitute abuse. For instance, we do not
know whether participants were abused by a close family
member versus by a stranger, and research indicates that this
distinction may be important for long-term outcomes (e.g.,
Freyd et al. 2001). At the same time, there are reasons to
expect that people’s responses to abuse may be more impor-
tant than individual aspects of the abuse experience (Holman
and Silver 1996). Future research could address these issues
by collecting information about abuse characteristics from
multiple sources, when possible, and exploring how
characteristics such as relationship to the abuser and type of
abuse might affect outcomes among CSA survivors.
Second, our data are cross-sectional and correlational,
limiting any conclusions we can draw about causality or
developmental change. For instance, we cannot know
whether the benefits of personal mastery were evident at
the time the women experienced their abuse or whether
such benefits emerged later. We also cannot determine
whether the development of personal mastery preceded
the development of what we have considered outcomes in
this study, such as physical health complaints. Only future
research with more sophisticated designs can begin to
address these kinds of questions.
Third, we were unable to examine the role of ethnicity. We
had access only to sample-level information about ethnicity,
indicating that our sample was predominantly African
American, but we were unable to link individual ethnicities
with other participant data. African Americans tend to have
more physical health concerns (e.g., cardiovascular disease)
compared to other racial groups (Center for Disease Control
2010) and they are more likely to stigmatize or avoid mental
health care for depressive symptoms (Redmond et al. 2009).
Thus, the outcomes that we examined in this study may be
particularly relevant to African Americans. Future research
should extend our work by exploring the complex associa-
tions among family functioning, physical and mental health
outcomes, and personal mastery in diverse populations. Such
person-centered analyses would help practitioners better
understand how personal mastery can be utilized to empower
diverse populations, especially those with histories of sexual
trauma.
Fourth, although our physical health measure was
associated with personal mastery, it was unrelated to CSA
status, including in interaction with personal mastery. One
plausible explanation for this could be the relatively low
internal consistency of our measure of physical health
symptoms. To address issues of reliability, future studies
should use a broader and more extensive measure of physical
health, perhaps incorporating medical records and informant
reports. Additionally, because stress associated with sexual
abuse may accumulate over time to impact physical health
outcomes (e.g., Ensel and Lin 2000), longitudinal methods
may be better able to capture the dynamic relationship
between sexual abuse history and physical health.
J Fam Viol

9. Finally, future research should examine how personal
mastery influences the adjustment of male CSA survivors.
Although the prevalence of CSA tends to be higher among
girls than boys (e.g., Putnam 2003), boys are nevertheless
victims of sexual abuse. Male CSA survivors may be at risk
for different kinds of outcomes compared to female survivors,
such as substance abuse (e.g., MacMillan et al. 2001), and
perhaps some outcomes are more strongly influenced by
personal mastery than others. Gender may also play a role in
the development and efficacy of personal mastery. For
instance, men tend to report higher personal mastery than
women (e.g., Lachman and Firth 2004; Thoits 1987), but this
does not necessarily mean that personal mastery is a more
effective coping resource for men than for women. Thus,
there is a need for research that explores gender-specific
coping responses.
Despite these limitations, our findings highlight the impor-
tance of empirical research that examines coping strategies
among traumatized populations. Personal mastery may prove
to be an empowering resource that can attenuate responses to
life stressors for CSA survivors, and perhaps for survivors of
other childhood and adult stressors as well. Insofar as personal
mastery can buffer individuals from the effects of life
stressors, therapeutic work with abused populations may
benefit from interventions aimed at fostering people’s sense
of personal mastery. Techniques such as guided mastery
therapy aim to increase a person’s sense of mastery; for
example, one therapeutic technique involves setting up a
series of difficult tasks and challenges to be mastered by the
client (Bandura 1986, 1988; Cervone and Williams 1992).
Repeated experiences of success over difficult tasks can
increase a person’s sense of mastery. Interventions designed
to increase personal mastery could also be particularly bene-
ficial in minority populations, where vulnerability to stressors
may be higher (Thoits 1995) and access to health care
resources tends to be lower (U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services 2001). By evaluating strategies for coping
with stress, researchers can more effectively intervene to
promote positive development among vulnerable populations.
Nevertheless, why some CSA survivors develop this adaptive
coping strategy while others do not is an important avenue for
future research.
Acknowledgments The data used in this study were made available by
the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect, Cornell Univer-
sity, Ithaca, NY. Data from the Parenting Among Women Sexually
Abused in Childhood, 1998, study were originally collected by Mary I.
Benedict. Funding for this study was provided by the Office on Child
Abuse and Neglect, Children’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Contract #90-CA-1544. Funding support for preparing
the data for public distribution was provided by Contract #90-CA-1370
between the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect and Cornell
University. Neither the collector of the original data, the funder, the Ar-
chive, Cornell University, or its agents or employees bear any responsi-
bility for the analyses or interpretations presented here.
Antonette King was supported by the Council of Social Work Educa-
tion’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Minority Fellowship Program.
We are grateful to Lorraine Gutierrez, Beth Reed, Elizabeth Cole,
Edith Lewis, and the members of the UM Personality, Relationships,
and Hormones research lab for their comments on earlier versions of this
manuscript and to Emily Shipman for her assistance in its preparation.
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