The Nature of Posttraumatic Growth in Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

Hartley, Sarah; Johnco, Carly; Hofmeyr, Marthinus; Berry, Andrea

doi:10.1080/10538712.2015.1119773

Cited by 41 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Qualitative studies also found reduced shame through: increased self‐compassion (Hartley, Johnco, Hofmeyr, & Berry, ; Saha et al, ); connecting with others or engagement in helping others (Arias & Johnson, ; Dorahy & Clearwater, ; Saha et al, ); disclosing and externalising shame and blame; and through learning about abuse dynamics (Arias & Johnson, ; Chouliara et al, ). The findings from these studies support shame‐based and compassion‐based interventions as important to recovery.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A scoping review of adult survivors’ experiences of shame following sexual abuse in childhood

MacGinley

Breckenridge

Mowll

2019

Health Soc Care Community

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Shame following childhood sexual abuse (CSA) can be intensely painful and destructive to one's sense of self and place in the world. Organised around an internalised core belief of worthlessness, extreme shame presents as a major therapeutic challenge in therapy with many CSA survivors. A range of clinical and empirical literature, alongside recounts of survivors lived experience, shows that shame is an effect of CSA for many survivors. Yet research has rarely focused specifically on survivors’ qualitative or lived experiences of shame. This article reports the results of a scoping review of the empirical research investigating adult survivors’ experiences of shame following sexual abuse in their childhood. Conducted in March 2018, the search strategy involved on‐line searches of English language, peer review and select grey literature repositories for articles published up to the end of 2017. Of the 28 peer reviewed studies included in the review, only three studies specifically investigate adult survivors lived experiences of shame. The synthesised findings from the studies identify five themes demonstrating the pervasive and detrimental influence of shame following CSA: (1) Psychological effects and trauma symptoms; (2) Relationships and social connections and disconnections; (3) Disclosure; (4) Self concept; and, (5) The process of recovery. These findings resonate with conceptual literature and broader research on the influence of shame following violence and highlight areas for future research and clinical practice. This scoping review identifies three key gaps: a need for further research across specific populations and groups; research evaluating therapeutic interventions responding to shame; and research that specifically investigates adult survivors’ lived experiences of shame following CSA.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A scoping review of adult survivors’ experiences of shame following sexual abuse in childhood

MacGinley

Breckenridge

Mowll

2019

Health Soc Care Community

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Abdominal/thoracic injuries (Kotch et al 1993) Acquire brain injuries (Buchweitz et al 2019) Bruises, welts, lacerations, and abrasions (Alexander et al 2001) Fractures (Felitti 1998) Eyes injuries (McBeth et al 1999) Sexual and reproductive ill-health Reproductive health problems (Cooperman and Merten 2001) Sexual dysfunction (Rapsey et al 2019) Sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS (Shamu et al 2019) Unwanted pregnancy (Hall et al 2019) Cognitive, emotional and behavioral disorders Developmental delays (Croft et al 2019) Alcohol and drug abuse (Cicchetti and Handley 2019) Cognitive impairment (Aas et al 2019) Delinquent, violent and other risk-taking behaviors (Mumford et al 2019) Depression and anxiety (Rapsey et al 2019) Deliberate food restriction and body-image problem (Bahji et al 2019) Feelings of shame and guilt (Baiden et al 2019) Poor self-esteem (McDonald et al 2019) Post-traumatic stress disorder (Hartley et al 2016) Deliberate self-harm and Suicidal behavior (Shapero et al 2019) Other longer-term health consequences Cancer (Henchoz et al 2019) Respiratory diseases (Riedl et al 2019) Fibromyalgia (Varinen et al 2019) Irritable bowel syndrome (Parker et al 2019) Ischemic heart disease (Obi et al 2019) Reproductive health problems such as infertility (Panisch 2019) Child maltreatment tends to trigger a myriad of physical, sexual and reproductive problems in addition to cognitive, emotional and behavioral disorders as shown in Table 2. It might also be advisable for those working in the caregiving profession to be trained in the biopsychosocial approach.…”

Section: Physicalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-Cultural Constraints in Protecting Child Rights in a Society in Transition: A Review and Synthesis from Oman

2020

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In line with international best practice, the Arabian Gulf countries have ratified the Convention on the Right of the Child (CRC), which has some clauses on child abuse and neglect. The present discourse, made from within an Arabian Gulf society, specifically Oman, reviews the socio-cultural differences of the region and explores the potential regional challenges for effectively implementing the CRC mandated child protection legislation. The international best practices evolved for individualistic, "guilt-based" societies, which may need to be modified to suit the "shame-based" collective societies in the Arabian Gulf where the individual autonomy is overridden by that of the family and society. This may mean that the entire spectrum of child abuse may need to be studied in-depth, starting from what constitutes child abuse and neglect, the methods adopted for identifying cases, setting preventive measures in place, applying penal and corrective action on the perpetrators, and helping the victims recover. It is posited that while modifying the laws may be straightforward, implementation of certain clauses may initially come into conflict with deeply engrained sociocultural conventions on these societies which have different parenting styles and childrearing practices. The country in focus is Oman. Pointing out the sparsity of research on the topic in the region, the study suggests additional research to understand how to reconcile these sociocultural constraints with the international best practices of protecting child rights. Keywords Convention on the right of the child. Children's rights. Social policy. Children at risk. Child indicators across the border. Oman. Arabian gulf region

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“…The effect of the being bullied at school on workers’ mental health was, smaller than that for other factors, such as psychosocial work environment; however, school bullying may be a predisposing factor for psychological distress among workers. The higher levels of work engagement among people who experienced being bullied at school may be because some of them might have overcome the experience of being bullied to gain more psychological resilience [ 29 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On one hand, those who were bullied at school might be expected to have reduced levels of personal psychological resources such as self-efficacy, self-esteem, optimism, and a sense of coherence [ 11 ], which could result in reduced work engagement [ 31 , 32 ]. At the same time, other people who were bullied at school may have able to overcome the experience and gain more psychological resilience, as often has been observed in a population exposed to childhood maltreatment [ 29 ]. The finding may be explained by high work engagement reported by part of the sample who experienced posttraumatic growth after being bullied at school.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of being bullied at school on psychological distress and work engagement in a community sample of adult workers in Japan

et al. 2018

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ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the long-term impact of being bullied at school on current psychological distress and work engagement in adulthood among Japanese workers. We hypothesized that workers who had been bullied at school could have higher psychological distress and lower work engagement compared to those who had not been bullied.MethodsWe used data from the Japanese Study on Stratification, Health, Income, and Neighborhood (J-SHINE) project, conducted from July 2010 to February 2011 in Japan. This survey randomly selected the local residents around a metropolitan area in Japan. Of 13,920 adults originally selected, 4,317 people participated this survey, and the total response rate was 31%. The self-administered questionnaires assessed current psychological distress (K6), work engagement (UWES), the experiences of being bullied in elementary or junior high school and other covariates. Statistical analyses were conducted only for workers. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine associations between experiences of being bullied at school and psychological distress/work engagement, with six steps.ResultStatistical analysis was conducted for 3,111 workers. The number of respondents who reported being bullied in elementary or junior high school was 1,318 (42%). We found that the experience of being bullied at school was significantly associated with high psychological distress in adulthood (β = .079, p = < .0001); however, the work engagement scores of respondents who were bullied were significantly higher than for people who were not bullied at school (β = .068, p = < .0001), after adjusting all covariates.ConclusionBeing bullied at school was positively associated with both psychological distress and work engagement in a sample of workers. Being bullied at school may be a predisposing factor for psychological distress, as previously reported. The higher levels of work engagement among people who experienced being bullied at school may be because some of them might have overcome the experience to gain more psychological resilience.

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The Nature of Posttraumatic Growth in Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

Cited by 41 publications

References 31 publications

A scoping review of adult survivors’ experiences of shame following sexual abuse in childhood

A scoping review of adult survivors’ experiences of shame following sexual abuse in childhood

Socio-Cultural Constraints in Protecting Child Rights in a Society in Transition: A Review and Synthesis from Oman

The impact of being bullied at school on psychological distress and work engagement in a community sample of adult workers in Japan

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