An evaluation of a group treatment approach for women sexually abused in childhood

This study was conducted for the purpose of determining: 1) if changes occured among sexually abused women who participated in a time-limited group treatment approach from pre-test to post-test on 8psychological variables including: a) self-esteem, b)body image, c) depression, d) feelings of guilt, e)anger, f) interpersonal sensitivity, g) paranoid ideation, and h) general severity of psychological distress symptoms, 2) if changes on the dependent measures occured for women in a contrast group, and 3)if the changes were greater among women in group therapy than among women in the contrast group. Twenty-two women who had been sexually abused in childhood participated in this study. Eleven women comprised the experimental group of women who received group treatment, and 11 women comprised the contrast group of women who did not receive group treatment. Participants were administered the SCL-90-R and the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale at three separate intervals: once prior to the commencement of group treatment, once upon completion of the group treatment and once six weeks following the group treatment. A Personal Information Sheet was also administered to both groups prior to group treatment and an experimenter-generated Support Group Assessment was administered to the women in the experimental group at the end of the group sessions. Results of the hypothesis testing indicated a significant decrease from pre-test to post-test in the scores of the Paranoid Ideation and Interpersonal Sensitivity subscales of the SCL-90-R for the women in the experimental group. A significant increase was found in the scores of the women in the contrast group on the Overall Self-Concept scale of the TSCS from pre-test to post-test. This increase was significantly greater than the increase in the scores of the women in the experimental group on the Overall Self-Concept scale of the TSCS. In addition, results indicated a significant decrease in the scores of the women in the contrast group on the Feelings of Guilt subscale of the SCL-90-R. The limitations of the study and the clinical and research implications were discussed.Education, Faculty ofEducational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department ofGraduat