Relationship of personal, familial, and abuse-specific factors with outcome following childhood sexual abuse

An examination of the literature on factors related to outcome following child sexual abuse (CSA) revealed many factors that may contribute to symptoms displayed by victims. Factors are divided into three categories: Personal Factors, Familial Factors, and Abuse- Specific Factors. Personal factors are those inherent to the victim, including age, gender, developmental disability, attributions regarding the abuse, and treatment following abuse. Familial factors are defined as those factors associated with other family members. These include parental history of abuse, parental reaction to the disclosure, parental support of the victim, parental mental health, family stress, and treatment following abuse for the parent and other family members. Finally, factors related to the abuse are delineated, including severity of abuse, duration of the abuse, and victim–perpetrator relationship. Directions for future research are discussed

The Relationship of Personal, Family, and Abuse-Specific Factors to Children’s Clinical Presentation Following Childhood Sexual Abuse

Past literature has proposed potential variables (e.g., age, gender, attributional style) that may relate to clinical presentation following childhood sexual abuse (CSA). However, few studies have tested these relationships. The current study examined multiple factors related to clinical presentation following CSA in 101 children and adolescents presenting for treatment at Project SAFE, a parallel group treatment for children/teens and their nonoffending parents. Using clusters developed in a previous study, relationships between proposed variables and pretreatment clinical presentation were examined. Results indicated that attributions about the abuse, parental mental health, and severity of abuse related to the differentiated clinical presentation. These results are important because pinpointing correlates to clinical presentation following CSA helps elucidate differences among those with a history of CSA and gives greater insight into the impact sexual abuse has on children. Knowing these differences may also benefit treatment providers in the development of individual treatment goals during therapy

Increasing Character Strength Knowledge, Interest, and Skill: Preliminary Evidence for a Collaborative and Multimethod Assessment Procedure

Introduction: The study’s objective was to evaluate whether a qualitative, collaborative, and multimethod assessment protocol increased reports of character strength interest, knowledge, and perceived skills. Methods: Thirty-two participants completed three phases of data collection. Participants were first screened for well-being, which was used as an auxiliary covariate to order participants into experimental conditions. Selected participants were randomly assigned to a control or collaborative and multimethod assessment (card sort × qualitative interview) condition. Participants completed pre- and post-measures of strength interest, knowledge, and perceived skill. In the final phase, second phase participants were invited to report on strength-related outcomes 24 h post-administration using an online survey. Results: A series of 2 (Assessment Condition) × 3 (Time) mixed ANOVAs were analyzed. Results revealed a significant assessment condition by time interaction for strength knowledge and perceived skill. Participants in the collaborative and multimethod assessment condition reported higher strength knowledge and perceived skills compared to control participants. These effects were maintained for 24 h. Conclusion: The findings offer preliminary yet sizable support for using collaborative and multimethod assessment procedures to increase strength knowledge and perceived skill. Because of the qualitative, collaborative, and individualized nature of our assessment protocol, the findings offer a low-cost and contextually bound pathway to increase strength-based outcomes

Heterogeneity of Individuals with a History of Child Sexual Abuse: An Examination of Children Presenting to Treatment

The current study examined children and families who presented for treatment through Project SAFE (Sexual Abuse Family Education) following childhood sexual abuse. Pretreatment assessment data were used to develop clusters of participants with significantly differing presentation of symptom outcome following abuse. Four clusters were discovered: (a) a Highly Distressed group, whose members had clinically elevated scores on all self- and parent-report measures; (b) a Problem Behaviors group, whose members had scores within the normal range for self-report measures and elevated scores on all parent-report measures; (c) a Subclinical group, whose participants had scores below the mean and below cutoff scores for all self- and parent-report measures; and (d) a Self-reported Distress group, whose members had elevated scores on self-report measures and scores below clinical cutoffs for all parent-report measures

The Relationship of Personal, Family, and Abuse-Specific Factors to Children’s Clinical Presentation Following Childhood Sexual Abuse

Past literature has proposed potential variables (e.g., age, gender, attributional style) that may relate to clinical presentation following childhood sexual abuse (CSA). However, few studies have tested these relationships. The current study examined multiple factors related to clinical presentation following CSA in 101 children and adolescents presenting for treatment at Project SAFE, a parallel group treatment for children/teens and their nonoffending parents. Using clusters developed in a previous study, relationships between proposed variables and pretreatment clinical presentation were examined. Results indicated that attributions about the abuse, parental mental health, and severity of abuse related to the differentiated clinical presentation. These results are important because pinpointing correlates to clinical presentation following CSA helps elucidate differences among those with a history of CSA and gives greater insight into the impact sexual abuse has on children. Knowing these differences may also benefit treatment providers in the development of individual treatment goals during therapy