NCJ Number
202960
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 11 Issue: 4 Dated: 2002 Pages: 1-16
Date Published
2002
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article examines treatment interventions for female sexual abuse survivors.
Abstract
This study explored the relationship between group treatment and adolescent self-image using an experimental design to determine direct causal relationships. Participants were 16- to 18-year-old female adolescents that had been identified as at risk. They completed the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire for Adolescents. The girls were randomly assigned to the experimental (group therapy) and control groups (optional individual therapy). An analysis of covariance was calculated to compare pretest and posttest scores of the four self-image subscales: impulse control, self-confidence, self-reliance, and body image. The results of this study did not support the hypotheses that the female adolescent survivors of sexual abuse that participated in group therapy would exhibit a significant increase in Impulse Control, Self-Confidence, Self-Reliance, or Body Image. But mean trends were observed to see directional changes that may assist future researchers. While statistically significant differences were not revealed in the area of impulse control, observation of mean trends revealed that participants that received group therapy increased in levels of impulse control while the control group remained the same. Future studies need to be done that assess specifically the possible benefits of group therapy with sexually abused adolescent females in this area of impulse control. Possible group therapy treatments that could affect impulse control would be those that focus on the development of appropriate social skills, the development of problem-solving skills, and the achievement of adolescent developmental tasks. Impulsiveness in survivors of sexual abuse, linked with lack of insight and lack of self-esteem may lead to sexual revictimization. Both groups of adolescents remained fairly stable in observing mean trends on measures of self-confidence. On measures of self-reliance, it was found that the adolescent survivors that did not participate in group therapy exhibited means that trended toward a decrease in self-reliance, while the means of adolescent survivors that participated in group therapy remained fairly stable on measures of self-reliance. Both groups of adolescents remained fairly stable on measure of body image. 1 table, 39 references