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Comparison of coping strategies between women and men sexually abused in childhood
Author
Tsai, Gerald
Supervisor
Khoo, Angeline
Abstract
The objective of this study was to compare differences in the coping strategies, the abuse characteristics, and the psychological sequelae between female and male participants who were sexually abused in childhood. Ten women and twelve men participated in the study.
In this concurrent embedded design study, priority was given to results derived from the qualitative data that was collected by means of the grounded theory approach, while the quantitative data, measured by the COPE and SCL-90-R standardized instruments, was used to support results from the qualitative analyses.
The results of this study identified four main coping strategies, namely, avoidance, emotional release, disclosure and support seeking, and religion. Furthermore, the age of onset of child sexual abuse was found to be lower than most other surveys, at 7.05 years old, and the majority of participants chose not to disclose their initial sexual abuse experience, coping with the ensuing psychological sequelae on their own, until some 17 years later. Subsequently, disclosures were made principally to counsellors and pastors.
Implications for counsellors included a need to appreciate the psychopathological complexities and multi-faceted coping strategies engendered by childhood sexual abuse across the lifespan, to familiarize themselves with the available diagnostic instruments, and the most efficacious treatment strategies now available for addressing abuse-specific consequences, so that these can be incorporated into standard practices for the sexually abused client and their families.
In this concurrent embedded design study, priority was given to results derived from the qualitative data that was collected by means of the grounded theory approach, while the quantitative data, measured by the COPE and SCL-90-R standardized instruments, was used to support results from the qualitative analyses.
The results of this study identified four main coping strategies, namely, avoidance, emotional release, disclosure and support seeking, and religion. Furthermore, the age of onset of child sexual abuse was found to be lower than most other surveys, at 7.05 years old, and the majority of participants chose not to disclose their initial sexual abuse experience, coping with the ensuing psychological sequelae on their own, until some 17 years later. Subsequently, disclosures were made principally to counsellors and pastors.
Implications for counsellors included a need to appreciate the psychopathological complexities and multi-faceted coping strategies engendered by childhood sexual abuse across the lifespan, to familiarize themselves with the available diagnostic instruments, and the most efficacious treatment strategies now available for addressing abuse-specific consequences, so that these can be incorporated into standard practices for the sexually abused client and their families.
Date Issued
2008
Call Number
RC569.5.A28 Tsa
Date Submitted
2008