A TREATMENT STUDY FOR SEXUALLY ABUSED PRESCHOOL-CHILDREN - OUTCOME DURING A ONE-YEAR FOLLOW-UP

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.