The family environment of sexual abuse: a comparison of natal and stepfather abuse.

Data from 17 states, drawn from the 1983 National Study on Child Neglect and Reporting, were used to compare families in which a daughter had been sexually abused by a natal father or stepfather. While broad comparisons are made in terms of age and race of victims, as well as household composition, the primary focus is on familial stress factors. Given the lower incidence of natal father abuse and the assumption that natal fathers have stronger emotional links to their children and greater commitment to the father role, we predicted that when they did engage in sexual abuse, it would be in a family environment characterized by relatively high levels of personal, social, and economic stress. This was confirmed to the extent that natal father abuser families showed significantly higher levels of drug and/or alcohol abuse, marital problems, and insufficient income than did stepfather abuser families.