Hierarchical relationships in dependency grids : explorations in survivors of childhood sexual abuse

A methodology for representing the patterns of dependency in a dependency grid using partial order scalogram analysis by coordinates (POSAC) is presented. The technique, devised by Shye (1985), shows these patterns as hierarchical relationships that indicate superordinate and subordinate resources. An index of depth of resource support is calculated in addition to an index of breadth of resource (which is shown to correspond to an index of dispersion of dependency). The procedure was applied to data from 54 survivors of child sexual abuse and a similar number of control subjects who all completed both an adult and child dependency grid. There was significantly less breadth of resource in the abuse group, more so for the child version than the adult, but there was significantly more depth of resource in the dependency grids from the child sexual abuse survivors.