Child abuse victims ‘more prone to post-traumatic stress disorder’
By ANIThursday, October 28, 2010
WASHINGTON - A new study has found that victims of child abuse, who blame themselves and their families for their situation, experience higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder.
These victims usually try to sleep more than usual, avoid thinking on the problem, or resort to alcohol and drug abuse.
This is one of the conclusions drawn from a research conducted by David Cantsn Cortis at the Department of Evolutionary and Educational Psychology of the University of Granada, and led by professors Fernando Justicia Justicia and Josi Cantsn Duarte.
The research showed that long-term psychological adjustment of victims of child sexual abuse greatly depends on some cognitive factors, and on their interaction.
Further, the study of 1500 female university students helped to determine under what circumstances (associated to situations of sexual abuse) these cognitive factors have higher impact.
Canton Cortes stated that the results “may be useful for the clinical treatment of victims of child abuse since it allows the identification of three intervention areas extremely valuable, both for their impact on adjustment, and because they can be modified (coping strategies, sense of guilt, feelings caused by sexual abuse).”
The results of this research will soon be published in the journal Child Abuse and Neglect. (ANI)
