NCT00073684

Optimal Treatment Strategies for Sexually Abused Children

Young Sexually Abused Children: Optimal CBT Strategies

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 3
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 210 (actual)
• Sponsor: Rowan University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 4 Years – 11 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study will determine the necessity of including abuse-focused interventions in the treatment of sexually abused children.

Detailed description

Child sexual abuse is a serious public health problem that places children at high risk for developing anxiety, mood, conduct, sexual, and substance abuse disorders. It also increases their likelihood of experiencing further victimization. It is imperative that abused children are provided with effective interventions to minimize their risk of developing problems that can be disruptive to their psychosocial development. Evidence suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can effectively ameliorate many abuse-related symptoms exhibited by sexually abused children and their parents. However, it is unknown whether CBT treatment should include gradual exposure (GE), an intervention that involves the gradual confrontation of abuse-related thoughts and memories with therapist feedback to assist the child in effectively processing the abusive experience. Because this component of CBT may be more difficult for children and their parents, it is important to determine if and when GE is essential for optimal recovery in abused children. Children and their parents will be randomly assigned to receive one of four treatments: brief abuse-focused treatment, brief coping skills treatment, extended abuse-focused treatment, and extended coping skills treatment. Assessments will be conducted before, during, and after treatment and at 6- and 12-month follow-up visits. Standardized evaluations will be conducted to assess parents' distress and support levels; parent reports of children's behavior patterns, sexualized behaviors, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms; and children's self-reports of PTSD, depression and anxiety symptoms, body safety skills, and victimization experiences.

Conditions

• Child Abuse, Sexual

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT)	This study aims to: (1) examine the differential effects of CBT with and without trauma narrative interventions; (2) examine the comparative efficacy of brief and extended (8 vs. 16 sessions) individual CBT; (3) make developmental comparisons between 4-7 year olds and 8-11 year olds as to the appropriateness and therapeutic necessity of exposure interventions and longer treatment; and (4) identify child and parent factors that may significantly mediate the relationships between treatment conditions and outcomes. The findings of this study will help establish clinical as well as developmental markers for the early identification of sexually abused children who may require more focused (i.e., including trauma narrative) and/or longer treatment to achieve optimal outcomes.
BEHAVIORAL	Brief abuse-focused treatment	Participants will receive 8 sessions of TF-CBT with abuse-focused treatment.
BEHAVIORAL	Brief coping skills treatment	Participants will receive 8 sessions of TF-CBT with brief coping skills treatment.
BEHAVIORAL	Extended abuse-focused treatment	Participants will receive 16 sessions of TF-CBT with extended abuse-focused treatment.
BEHAVIORAL	Extended coping skills treatment	Participants will receive 16 sessions of TF-CBT with extended coping skills treatment.

Timeline

• Start date: 2003-08-01
• Primary completion: 2009-07-01
• Completion: 2009-07-01
• First posted: 2003-12-03
• Last updated: 2014-05-08

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States