Background and aims: Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) disclosure often involves negative social reactions that are feared by victims and can have short- and long-term negative consequences. Specifically, family reactions and responses to CSA disclosure seem to affect attributions of blame to the child’s victim. To our knowledge, research has not yet explored the specific role of maternal and paternal reactions on social attributions towards the victim and perpetrator. Methods: Two experimental studies were conducted using vignettes manipulating mother’s (N= 256) or father´s reactions (N= 193) to CSA disclosure. Results: findings from these two studies revealed that when a mother blames the child for the CSA more culpability is laid on the perpetrator than when she protects her child or denies the abuse. However, this same effect was not observed for fathers. Conclusions: This study provides insights into how parental reactions, particularly from mothers, may shape others’ views about CSA, which is particularly significant to CSA victims’ recovery.

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child sexual abuse,mother's reaction,father's reaction,attributions