Change experienced during group therapy by female survivors of childhood sexual abuse

Change during a 20-week group therapy program was researched for 40 women who were survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Results indicated that the women who participated in group therapy, compared with a quasi-experimental control group, decreased significantly on measures of depression, social maladjustment, self-blame, and posttraumatic stress responses, with no significant increases in anger. Scores on the main variables remained stable during assessment and follow-up periods for the women who participated in group therapy. In addition, there were no significantly different patterns of change based on either sexual abuse variables (number of perpetrators, sexual abuse by a father figure, nature of sexual abuse, and duration) or participation in concurrent individual therapy.