A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis of Psychoeducational Groups for the Treatment of Psychopathology Resulting from Child Sexual Abuse

It is estimated that 16% of men and 26% of women have experienced child sexual abuse (CSA), and studies have shown a strong association with long-term psychosocial consequences. The use of psychoeducational groups with survivors of CSA has been found to produce favorable outcomes; however, no meta-analyses have been conducted on studies assessing the use of psychoeducational groups to treat victims of CSA. The purpose of this systematic review and random-effect meta-analysis was to examine the efficacy of psychoeducational groups for the treatment of psychopathology subsequent to child sexual abuse (CSA) by addressing the following research questions (1) Are psychoeducational groups effective in treating CSA? (2) What are the themes across studies used in the meta-analysis? and, (3) What psychoeducational group factors and topics emerged from the qualitative analysis? The aim of this study is to examine how effective psychoeducational groups were on reducing symptoms of anxiety, depression, dissociation, PTSD, and externalizing behaviors across a wide range of CSA survivors. A thematic analysis was completed to identify themes pertinent to the efficacy of the psychoeducational groups. Nine studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta analysis. The meta-analysis indicated that psychoeducational groups have a medium effect (Cohen’s d = 0.40) on treating psychopathology individuals experience subsequent to CSA. Two themes emerged from the thematic analysis: group factors and group topics which are integral parts of the group experience and were useful in balancing the didactic, experiential, and processing components of the psychoeducational groups