Child Sexual Abuse as a Predictor of Impulsivity Dimensions: Examining Depression/Anxiety and Deviant Peer Association as Mediating Mechanisms

Abstract Child sexual abuse is a risk factor for heightened impulsivity. However, there remains a lack of understanding of mediators of this relationship across the various dimensions of impulsivity. This study sought to examine the direct effect of child sexual abuse on impulsivity dimensions. It also examined deviant peer association and depression/anxiety as mediators of these relationships. The sample was comprised of 402 justice-involved women recently convicted of a felony offense at baseline measurements and followed across the subsequent years. Generalized structural equation modeling was used to estimate direct and indirect relationships of interest. Bootstrap resampling was used to calculate statistical significance of mediation effects. Findings indicated that experiencing child sexual abuse was associated with increased levels of urgency (Coefficient=-0.222, p < .028). This relationship was mediated by depression/anxiety, but what? only reached marginal significance (Coefficient=-0.049, p < .062). Child sexual abuse did not significantly predict sensation-seeking (Coefficient = 0.009, p < .0927) or lack of premeditation (Coefficient=-0.139, p < .186), but depression/anxiety did significantly mediate the relationship between child sexual abuse and lack of premeditation (Coefficient=-0.078, p < .020). Findings indicated that child sexual abuse was relevant for understanding the urgency dimension of impulsivity and justice-involved women with a history of such abuse should be prioritized for treatment to reduce urgency with the goal of impacting recidivism risk. Targeting depression/anxiety may have some utility in this regard. There may be some utility for addressing lack of premeditation among sexually abused women in the justice-system by addressing depression/anxiety, but the lack of a significant direct effect tempered the capacity for this interpretation.