Psychological treatment of adult female survivors of childhood sexual abuse: long term results

Abstract

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is one the most common forms of child victimization. The effects of CSA can extend into adulthood, impacting on physical, psychological, and social functioning and contributing to adult psychopathology. The aim of this paper was to evaluate an individual 12 sessions cognitive-behavioral programme in the treatment of female adult survivors of CSA after implementing it for twenty years in a community setting. The sample consisted of 121 subjects who voluntarily participated in the study. A design with repeated measures (pre-treatment, posttreatment and 1-, 3-, 6- and 12-month follow-up) was used. The success rate regarding posttraumatic stress disorder was of 90.7% in the treatment completers. In spite of the lost patients in the follow-ups (25.58%), the results were maintained in the contacted patients at follow-up (74.42% in the 12-month-follow-up), with a high impact on reducing recidivism. However, the rate of refusals and drop-outs of the treatment was rather high. Therefore it is necessary to develop strategies to improve motivation for treatment. Implications of this study for clinical practice and future research in this field are commented upon.