Child Abuse & Neglect 51 (2016) 54–63 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Child Abuse & Neglect Research article Emotional security in the family system and psychological distress in female survivors of child sexual abuse David Cantón-Cortés a,* , José Cantón b , María Rosario Cortés b a Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Málaga, Spain b Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Granada, Spain a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 14 July 2015 Received in revised form 6 November 2015 Accepted 13 November 2015 Available online 11 December 2015 Keywords: Child sexual abuse Emotional security Family system Characteristics of abuse Psychological distress a b s t r a c t The Emotional Security Theory (EST) was originally developed to investigate the associa- tion between high levels of interparental conflict and child maladaptative outcome. The objective of the present study was to analyze the effects of emotional security in the family system on psychological distress among a sample of young female adult survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA). The role of emotional security was investigated through the interac- tive effects of a number of factors including the type of abuse, the continuity of abuse, the relationship with the perpetrator and the existence of disclosure for the abuse. Partic- ipants were 167 female survivors of CSA. Information about the abuse was obtained from a self-reported questionnaire. Emotional security was assessed with the Security in the Family System (SIFS) Scale, and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) was used to assess psychological distress. In the total sample, insecurity (preoccupation and disengage- ment) was correlated with high psychological distress scores, whereas no relationship was found between security and psychological distress. The relationship between emotional insecurity and psychological distress was stronger in cases of continued abuse and non- disclosure, while the relationship between emotional security and distress was stronger in cases of extrafamilial abuse and especially isolated or several incidents and when a disclo- sure had been made. No interactive effect was found between any of the three emotional variables and the type of abuse committed. The results of the current study suggest that characteristics of CSA such as relationship with the perpetrator and, especially, continuity of abuse and whether or not disclosure had been made, can affect the impact of emotional security on psychological distress of CSA survivors. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is a serious social problem, common in every society, with prevalence rates that range between 8% and 31% among women internationally (Barth, Bermetz, Heim, Trelle, & Tonia, 2013). Research has consistently found that victims of CSA are at a high risk of developing psychological and interpersonal problems, ranging from depression and dissociation symptoms to sexual disorders and revictimization (e.g., Mansbach-Kleinfeld, Ifrah, Apter, & Farbstein, 2015; Sigurdardottir, Halldorsdottir, & Bender, 2014; Vaillancourt-Morela et al., 2015). Despite evidence of the negative consequences of CSA, psychological adjustment after CSA varies widely and a significant portion of survivors do not show significant impairment (Barth et al., 2013). Thus, the research on the impact of CSA on victim * Corresponding author at: Facultad de Psicología, Campus de Teatinos, 29071 Málaga, Spain. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.11.005 0145-2134/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.