A comparison of short-term group and individual therapy for sexually abused women

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of 10 sessions of group therapy wit h that of 10 sessions of individual therapy in a sample of 86 adult women s eeking treatment for the effects of childhood sexual abuse. Method: Participants were randomly assigned to the 2 treatment modalities a nd tested at assessment, pretherapy following a ID-week wait condition, pos ttherapy, and 6-month and 12-month follow-up. Results., Participants had fewer symptoms and better psychosocial functioni ng posttherapy and were further improved at the 6- and 12-month folow-up. N either treatment modality was superior to the other. Approximately one-half of the sample sought further treatment during the follow-up periods. Conclusions: Improvement in symptoms and functioning was associated with sh ort-term treatment in both modalities, but many patients remained distresse d and required further treatment Future research should investigate whether sexually abused women who meet criteria for specific diagnoses require mor e focused and/or longer-term therapy.