Department of Psychology

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Browsing Department of Psychology by Author "Becker-Blease, Kathryn"

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    Child Sex Abuse Perpetrators Among Male University Students
    (2006-11) Becker-Blease, Kathryn; Friend, Daniel; Freyd, Jennifer J.
    Previous studies indicate that approximately 21% of undergraduate men report attraction to “little children”, 4 – 9 % report having fantasies about sex with a child, and 5 – 6% report masturbating to these fantasies. Between 3 and 7% report some likelihood of having sex with a child if there was no chance they would be caught (Briere & Runtz, 1989; Smiljanich & Briere, 1996). Understanding potential for perpetration among young adult men is important for prevention, but research on perpetration in non-convicted samples is limited. We asked 531 undergraduate men about their experiences with abuse as a child, as well as perpetration of child sexual abuse. Approximately 18% report fantasies about child sexual abuse and 8% have masturbated to these fantasies. Four percent indicate some likelihood that they would have sex with a child, and just over 2.5% report having perpetrated at least one sexually abusive act against a child. More students in this survey report fantasies about child sex than in past surveys, perhaps because of the increased availability of child pornography, or differences in willingness to admit such fantasies. The results are discussed in terms of the need for prevention programs
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    Examining Dissociation in Maltreated Preschool Children
    (2006-11) Cholankeril, Annmarie; Freyd, Jennifer J.; Pears, K.C.; Becker-Blease, Kathryn; Fisher, P.A.
    The purpose of this study is to examine dissociation in a population of preschool-age foster children with documented cases of maltreatment. Data were collected from participants in the Early Intervention Foster Care program (EIFC), a randomized efficacy trial based on the empirically evaluated Multidimensional Specialized Foster Care program. Dissociative symptoms were assessed using three subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) that have been previously published in the trauma literature. Because the three subscales were highly intercorrelated, items were combined for a Exploratory Factor Analysis. Two distinct factors were found that may comprise new subscales assessing dissociative symptomatology and post-traumatic arousal symptomatology. In order to test their predictive validity, analyses compared the foster care sample and a community sample with no known maltreatment history and also compared dissociation across maltreatment categories. Implications for the use of dissociation as an adaptive coping mechanism are discussed.