Ja. Cohen et Ap. Mannarino, A TREATMENT STUDY FOR SEXUALLY ABUSED PRESCHOOL-CHILDREN - OUTCOME DURING A ONE-YEAR FOLLOW-UP, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36(9), 1997, pp. 1228-1235
Objective: Treatment outcome in sexually abused preschool children was
evaluated 6 and 12 months after treatment. Method: Forty-three sexual
ly abused preschool children and their parents were evaluated 6 and 12
months after completion of either Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Se
xually Abused Preschoolers (CBT-SAP) or nondirective supportive therap
y (NST). Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist, Child Sexual
Behavior Inventory, and Weekly Behavior Report to measure a variety of
symptoms in their children. Results: Repeated-measures analyses indic
ated that there were significant group by time interactions on several
outcome measures from the beginning of the study to the end of the 12
-month follow-up period, with the CBT-SAP group exhibiting significant
ly more improvement over time than the NST group. Clinical findings al
so indicated the superior effectiveness of CBT-SAP over NST in reducin
g sexually inappropriate behavior. Conclusions: Findings support the s
uperior efficacy of CBT-SAP over NST in maintaining symptom reduction
in the year after treatment completion. The importance of using cognit
ive-behavioral interventions for sexually inappropriate behaviors and
including nonoffending parents in the treatment of sexually abused pre
school children is discussed.