Trauma-Focused Therapy for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Sexually Abused Children: A Summary and Evaluation of Research
Year: 2008
Type: article
Abstract: Each year a great number of children are sexually abused and studies have suggested that more than 50% of sexually abused children meet either partial or full criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) has been developed to help these children and has the strongest support, showing decreases in depression, behavior problems, shame, and abuse-related attributions.TF-CBT contains four major components: exposure, cognitive processing and reframing, stress management, and parental treatment.Unfortunately, very few well-controlled studies have been completed on the use of TF-CBT for PTSD due to childhood sexual abuse and those that have contain problems with internal and external validity.These issues, along with measurement issues, are discussed, noting areas of future research that may be beneficial.A great number of children are sexually abused each year, ranging from experiences of indecent exposure to rape at gunpoint.Often sexually abused children are at risk for developing psychiatric disorders and distress as adults, which also can vary from mild to debilitating distress (Saywitz, Mannarino, Berliner, & Cohen, 2000).With the large number of children who are sexually abused each year, finding a treatment that produces positive outcomes is very important.Saywitz et al. (2000) stated that studies have suggested more than 50% of sexually abused children meet either partial or full criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).PTSD is an anxiety disorder in which a trauma is experienced to the person directly or is witnessed as it occurs to others and it is perceived to be life threatening.It is characterized by the following symptoms: reexperiencing, avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, and hyper-arousal (Feeny, Foa, Treadwell, & March, 2004).As explained in the text revision of the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000), each of these three symptoms can occur in numerous ways.For example, reexperiencing includes the occurrence of recurrent images, thoughts, 1 Bol: Trauma-Focused Therapy for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress
Author: Chasidy I. Bol
Institution: Marquette University
Language: English
Topic: Child Abuse and Trauma
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W151253129