Date
8-6-2025
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
Courtney Evans
Keywords
adult female survivors, childhood sexual abuse, impacts to attachment, primary caregiver perpetrators, protective factors in marriage, relationship and sexual satisfaction
Disciplines
Counseling
Recommended Citation
Diaz, Andrea K., "Sexual and Relationship Satisfaction among Monogamous Heterosexual Married Female Survivors of Primary Caregiver Childhood Sexual Abuse" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7294.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7294
Abstract
Childhood sexual abuse can have devastating lifelong impacts for children who were abused by a primary caregiver. Research shows links to a gamut of adverse risks including physical health problems, intimate partner violence and revictimization, mental health concerns, interrupted life roles, interpersonal relationship attachment, sexuality, communication, and social support issues. Many studies are limited in delineating sexual orientation and relationship status. Despite significant research related to childhood sexual abuse, a gap in the literature exists. The presented qualitative phenomenological study sought to understand sexual and relationship satisfaction among monogamous heterosexual female survivors of primary caregiver childhood sexual abuse within the context of marriage. Using an ontological perspective, the grounding theories for the presented study were Bowlby’s attachment theory and a constructivist paradigm. Such selections were made to enhance the understanding of how primary caregiver childhood sexual abuse has the potential to devastate childhoods, innocence, sense of being, and security in interpersonal and sexual relationships for adult female survivors. Following thematic analysis, a total of seven themes emerged including: ACEs, learned independence, ensuring safety for self and others (three sub themes were identified: husband selection, distrust and social isolation, and advocacy for others), relationship with God, depressive symptoms, corrective experiences, and disclosure impacts on the marriage. The study highlighted a clear differentiation between marital relationship and sexual satisfaction, corrective experiences via relationships, the power of spousal disclosure, and positive impacts of couples shared faith in God.
