A Study of a Support Service for the Current Carers of Sexually Abused Girls

Abstract

A B S T R A C T Intervention in support of the current carers is seen as an important part of a treatment package for sexually abused girls. This article, one element of a comparative treatment trial, describes the characteristics and backgrounds of the current carers, the nature of the help provided to them and their responses to the help. One of the main aims of involving and supporting carers was to try to ensure regular attendance of the girls in the therapy and this was largely achieved. Although there were no simple relationships between help for the carers and treatment outcome for the girls, a strong association was found between a positive attitude by the birth mothers toward the treatment and improvement in the girls. The possible reasons for this are discussed together with practice and research considerations when planning dual interventions to attend to the needs of the girls and their carers.K E Y W O R D S child sexual abuse; group work; psychotherapy; support for carers; treatment evaluation T H I S A RT I C L E covers one aspect of an intervention study which compared the effectiveness of individual treatment with group treatment for sexually abused girls. The trial was set up at the Tavistock Clinic in association with other child and adolescent treatment teams in North and South London (Trowell, Berelowitz, & Kolvin, 1995). The main project set out to investigate whether the adverse effects of child sexual abuse could be ameliorated and whether treatment outcomes differed according to the type of intervention. The full details of the design, descriptions of the two modes of treatment and measurement of problems in the girls cannot be reproduced here, but the essential features are summarized briefly. The initial assessment sample consisted of 81, 6-14-year-old (mean age 10.3 years) girls who had disclosed contact sexual abuse within the last two years and who were symptomatic and thought to be suitable for psychotherapy. The majority of the girls were Caucasian (63%), one-tenth were of Black Caribbean origin, and another tenth were of mixed heritage. The remainder (17%) were of Mediterranean, Oriental or Asian origin. About half were abused by 'a parent figure' and half by others.

The State of the Evidence Base for Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents

“…69% of those with MDD and 50% of those with separation anxiety disorder no longer had these disorders at 1-year follow up. A subsequent report underscored the importance of the mother's support for the therapy as a predictor of improvement in the children and the benefit that the mothers gained in terms of their own mental health from the child's treatment 50 . Thus, while there were some indications of the superiority of individual treatment, the differences appear to be relatively small.…”

Cognitive behavioural psychotherapy intervention in childhood sexual abuse: identifying new directions from the literature

“…Parallel work with carers was offered as part of the treatment package for girls who had been sexually abused in a recent study carried out by Rushton and Miles (2000). Despite several reported weaknesses in the analysis, the authors concluded that overall the results were favourable and supportive of carers' involvement in treatment for a number of reasons.…”

Cost‐Effectiveness of Individual versus Group Psychotherapy for Sexually Abused Girls

“…Support from social workers was also offered to the carers of the girls (Rushton & Miles, 2000). This was a supportive intervention aimed at ensuring the girls’ attendance at treatment sessions, helping carers to understand their children's difficulties and responding to the carers’ own needs as parents.…”