The effects of maternal sexual trauma on parent-child relationships show a distinction between a history of childhood sexual abuse and sexual assault or rape during the mother's adulthood. Findings from this study indicate that the mother's sexual assault history was highly correlated with the quality of the parent-child relationship. Data suggests that sexual assault during adulthood has a stronger impact on an impaired relationship than the mother's history of childhood sexual abuse, and that a parent's sexual assault may lead to the development of an impaired parent-child relationship, suggesting the need for professionals and policymakers to develop interventions for family relationships when a parent is sexually assaulted. This study is a secondary analysis of data collected by the Child Trauma Research Project, which tested the efficacy of child-parent psychotherapy for preschoolers exposed to domestic violence. Tables and references