Effectiveness of Resilient Focused Psychotherapy on Interpersonal

Relationship Among Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

S. E. Catherene Princy Abinaya

and Shahin Ahmed

Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University, Department of Sports Psychology, India

Keywords: Child Sexual Abuse, Interpersonal Relationship, Resilience, Psychological Intervention.

Abstract: The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of resilient focused psychotherapy on the Interpersonal

Relationship functioning among the adult survivors of CSA.For the purpose, 25 women survivors of Child

Sexual Abuse above 18 years of age were randomly selected for the study. Interpersonal Relationship

Questionnaire (FIAT – Q) was used to measure the various dimensions of Interpersonal Relationship such as

assertion of needs, bi-directional communication, conflict, interpersonal closeness, and emotional expression

that contribute to the interpersonal relationship functioning. They underwent 20 psychotherapy sessions which

was focussed on resilient training and improving coping skills over a period of 10 weeks. Pre and Post test

scores of the samples were statistically analysed using paired sample t-test. The result reveals that the

intervention program was significantly effective in improving the Interpersonal Relationship among the CSA

survivors. The study suggests that early positive psychological therapeutic intervention will benefit the

survivors better.

1 INTRODUCTION

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is a cruel act towards the

children. Sexual exploitation in childhood is under-

recognized (IOM). The impact of the abuse creates a

scar throughout the adulthood. One of the major

concerns was found to be interpersonal issues among

the survivors as an adult as they develop trust issues,

adjustment problems, lack of resilience, etc.

Various research findings says that the survivors of

Child Sexual Abuse experiences variety of

Interpersonal Issues during their adulthood. These

problems predominantly involve hostile emotions,

isolation, intimacy issues, and problems in social

relationship and maintenance of friendship. Some

people also develop problems in their own parenting

skills and relationship with their children. Acute and

long-term effects of CSA involve various

psychological problems like depression, anxiety,

posttraumatic stress disorder, etc. These findings are

in line with Famularo et al. (2013).

Courtois (1979) reports that 79% of the survivors of

CSA experienced severe to moderate problems in

their interpersonal relationship. Fear of Intimacy

leads to unsatisfying and destructive relationship.

Several clinical and non-clinical research studies link

the Child Sexual Abuse and suicidal ideation.

Resilience is deeply rooted with the Interpersonal

Relationship Functioning and self-recognition of an

individual which supports the enhancement of self-

esteem and self-efficacy especially for those who

have survived a traumatic event in life. (Gordon L et

al., 2015). Child sexual abuse (CSA) influences

adulthood interpersonal functioning and sexual risk

through its impact on resiliency resources and

psychological distress (Brittain E et al., (2012). There

are several evidence based strategies and

intervention, especially school based programmes to

prevent CSA, through strengthening the family

support and community practice (World Health

Organization, 2016)

Since the lack of resilient and copying skills were

identified as the key factor for the cause of

interpersonal relationship problems in the adulthood

among the CSA survivors. Present study explores the

effectiveness of resilient focused psychotherapies on

the interpersonal relationship among the CSA adult

survivors. The intervention also focused on

establishing the expression of feelings and emotions

other than sexual thoughts and memories of the

childhood sexual abuse.

Abinaya, S. and Ahmed, S.

Effectiveness of Resilient Focused Psychotherapy on Interpersonal Relationship Among Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

DOI: 10.5220/0012503100003792

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR 2023), pages 763-766

ISBN: 978-989-758-687-3

763

1.1 Aim of the Study

To assess and improve the interpersonal relationship

Functioning of adult women survivors of Child

Sexual Abuse through Resilient Focussed

Psychotherapy Intervention.

2 METHODOLOGY

25 adult women survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

aged above 18 years from Chennai city, Tamil Nadu

were selected randomly to participate in the

intervention program. The level of problems in their

Interpersonal Relationship was measured using

Interpersonal Relationships Questionnaire (FIAT –

Q). Demographic profile schedule is used to collect

data about the experience of Child Sexual Abuse and

other personal details. All data were analysed using

descriptive statistics. Baseline and Final means were

compared using paired t-test.

2.1 Hypothesis of the Study

1. There will be significant difference between

the pre-test and post-test in the level of problems in

Interpersonal Relationship functioning among the

adult women survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

2. There will be significant difference between

the pre-test and post-test in the Assertion of Needs

(Identification & Expression) among the adult

women survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

3. There will be significant difference between

the pre-test and post-test in the Bidirectional

Communication (Impact & Feedback) among the

adult women survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

4. There will be significant difference between

the pre-test and post-test in the level of Conflict

among the adult women survivors of Child Sexual

Abuse.

5. There will be significant difference between

the pre-test and post-test in the Disclosure and

Interpersonal Closeness the adult women survivors of

Child Sexual Abuse.

6. There will be significant difference between

the pre-test and post-test in the Emotional Experience

and Expression among the adult women survivors of

Child Sexual Abuse.

2.2 Analysis and Interpretation

Table 1: Descriptive statistics and pairwise comparison of

the Interpersonal Relationship Functioning among the adult

women survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

Interpersonal

Relationship

Functioning

M SD t Sig.

Baseline

score (pre-

test)

Final score

(post-test)

Paired

Differences

(pre & post)

3.8944

2.1264

1.76800

.31493

.23514

.23608

37.445

.000

M – Mean, SD – Standard Deviation, N=25

Table 1 shows the mean of Interpersonal Relationship

of the respondents has reduced from 3.89 to 2.13

which indicates there are improvement in the

Interpersonal Relationship among the adult women

survivors of Child Sexual Abuse. t value of paired

difference is 37.445 which is significant at 0.01 level

as p-value < 0.01. The hypothesis which states there

will be significant difference between pre and post

scores of Interpersonal Relationship Functioning is

accepted. There is significant difference between the

pre and post test scores of Assertion of Needs. The

resilient focused intervention has significantly

improved the Interpersonal Functioning among the

adult women survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

Table 2: Descriptive statistics and pairwise comparison of

the Assertion of needs (Identification and Expression)

among the adult women survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

Interpersonal

Relationship

Functionin

M SD t Sig.

Baseline

score (pre-

test)

Final score

(post-test)

Paired

Differences

re &

ost

)

3.6000

2.0160

1.58400

.76376

.54443

.68293

11.597

.000

M – Mean, SD – Standard Deviation, N=25

Table 2 shows the mean of Assertion of needs

(Identification and Expression) of the respondents has

reduced from 3.60 to 2.01 which indicates there are

improvement in the Assertion of needs among the

adult women survivors of Child Sexual Abuse. t value

PAMIR 2023 - The First Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies- | PAMIR

764

of paired difference is 11.597 which is significant at

0.01 level as p-value < 0.01. The hypothesis which

states there will be significant difference between pre

and post scores of the Assertion of needs

(Identification and Feedback) is accepted. There is

significant difference between the pre and post test

scores of Assertion of Needs. The resilient focused

intervention has significantly improved the Assertion

of needs among the survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

Table 3: Descriptive statistics and pairwise comparison of

the Bidirectional Communication (Impact and Feedback)

among the adult women survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

Interpersonal

Relationship

Functioning

M SD t Sig.

Baseline

score (pre-

test)

Final score

(post-test)

Paired

Differences

(pre & post)

4.3200

2.3520

1.96800

.61914

.33803

.43466

22.638

.000

M – Mean, SD – Standard Deviation, N=25

Table 3 shows the mean of Bidirectional

Communication (Impact and Feedback) of the

respondents has reduced from 4.32 to 2.35 which

indicates there are improvement in the Bidirectional

Communication among the adult women survivors of

Child Sexual Abuse. t value of paired difference is

22.638 which is significant at 0.01 level as p-value <

0.01. The hypothesis which states there will be

significant difference between pre and post scores of

the Bidirectional Communication (Impact and

Feedback) is accepted. There is significant difference

between the pre and post test scores of Bidirectional

Communication. The resilient focused intervention

has significantly improved the Bidirectional

Communication among the survivors of Child Sexual

Abuse.

Table 4: Descriptive statistics and pairwise

comparison of the Conflict among the adult women

survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

Interpersonal

Relationship

Functioning

M SD t Sig.

Baseline

score (pre-

test)

Final score

(post-test)

Paired

Differences

(pre & post)

3.1680

1.6480

1.52000

.63161

.34293

.43970

17.285

.000

M – Mean, SD – Standard Deviation, N=25

Table 4 shows the mean Conflict of the respondents

has reduced from 3.17 to 1.65 which indicates there

are reduction in the Conflict needs among the adult

women survivors of Child Sexual Abuse. t value of

paired difference is 17.285 which is significant at

0.01 level as p-value < 0.01. The hypothesis which

states there will be significant difference between pre

and post scores of the Conflict is accepted. There is

significant difference between the pre and post test

scores of Conflict. The resilient focused intervention

has significantly reduced the Conflict among the

survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

Table 5: Descriptive statistics and pairwise comparison of

the Disclosure and Interpersonal Closeness among the adult

women survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

Interpersonal

Relationship

Functioning

M SD t Sig.

Baseline

score (pre-

test)

Final score

(post-test)

Paired

Differences

(pre & post)

4.1840

2.4480

1.73600

.55952

.37541

.43863

19.789

.000

M – Mean, SD – Standard Deviation, N=25

Table 5 shows the mean of Disclosure and

Interpersonal Closeness of the respondents has

reduced from 4.18 to 2.45 which indicates there are

improvement in the Disclosure and Interpersonal

Closeness among the adult women survivors of Child

Sexual Abuse. t value of paired difference is 19.789

which is significant at 0.01 level as p-value < 0.01.

The hypothesis which states there will be significant

difference between pre and post scores of the

Effectiveness of Resilient Focused Psychotherapy on Interpersonal Relationship Among Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

765

Disclosure and Interpersonal Closeness is accepted.

There is significant difference between the pre and

post test scores of Disclosure and Interpersonal

Closeness. The resilient focused intervention has

significantly improved the Interpersonal Closeness

among the survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

Table 6: Descriptive statistics and pairwise comparison of

the Emotional Experience and Expression among the adult

women survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

Interpersonal

Relationship

Functioning

M SD t Sig.

Baseline score

(pre-test)

Final score (post-

test)

Paired

Differences (pre

& post)

4.2000

2.1680

2.03200

38730

.33005

.44974

22.591

.000

M – Mean, SD – Standard Deviation, N=25

Table 6 shows the mean of Emotional Experience and

Expression of the respondents has reduced from 4.20

to 2.17 which indicates there are improvement in the

Emotional Experience and Expression among the

adult women survivors of Child Sexual Abuse. t value

of paired difference is 22.591 which is significant at

0.01 level as p-value < 0.01. The hypothesis which

states there will be significant difference between pre

and post scores of the Emotional Experience and

Expression is accepted. There is significant difference

between the pre and post test scores of Emotional

Experience and Expression. The resilient focused

intervention has significantly improved the

Emotional Experience and Expression among the

survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The therapeutic intervention which focused on

enhancing resilience and coping skills had made

remarkable improvement in the Interpersonal

Relationship Functioning among survivors of Child

Sexual Abuse.

4 CONCLUSION

The professionals in school like teachers, principals,

counsellors, etc. play a substantial role in shaping

children’s social functioning and emotional well-ness

with trust. (Mcalinden, 2006). Friendship is a

voluntary relationship that can help in times of need,

trust and respect for each other. It is very important

that we address the psychological well-being in the

younger age. It brings a sense of identity in the

individual. The study recommends life skill training

programs focussing on resilience in schools which

will not only serve as an intervention plan but also as

a prevention for any form of injustice towards

children as it encourages cognitive development and

mental strength.

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