NCJ Number
205557
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 25 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2001 Pages: 1053-1068
Date Published
August 2001
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This follow-up to an outcome study of the effectiveness of an emotionally focused therapy for adult survivors of childhood abuse examined the stability of retrospective reported maltreatment histories in the context of pretreatment/posttreatment change in mood symptomatology and the subjective meaning of abuse experiences.
Abstract
The study sample was composed of 44 clients who began the therapy and were administered the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) prior to treatment to measure the extent of child abuse and neglect. Also administered before treatment were other measures of symptomatology, abuse resolution, and self-esteem. The same battery of measures was administered after 6 months of therapy to the 33 clients who completed the therapy. Posttreatment interviews also assessed changes in clients' perceptions of self and abusive and neglectful others. Any changes in the pretreatment and posttreatment findings were noted. Regarding changes in symptoms of childhood abuse trauma in the adult survivors, those who completed therapy manifested posttreatment significant reductions in psychopathology on all dependent measures and reduced self-blame, negatively biased memories, avoidance, and minimization of the abuse. The reports of childhood abuse and physical neglect on the CTQ remained stable from pretreatment to posttreatment. This finding supports the accuracy of retrospective self-reports of childhood abuse as recorded through the CTQ regardless of changes in symptomatology. 3 tables and 27 references