THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TRAUMA FOCUSED-COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY IN MANAGING SEXUAL ABUSE AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN EDO-STATE

ABSTRACT

The focus of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in managing sexual abuse among primary school children in Edo-State. Four research questions and hypothesis were raised to guide this study and were tested at a significance level of 0.05. Pre-test, post-test non-equivalent control group, quasi experimental research design was used for this study.

The population comprised of 5,803 public primary five (5) pupils in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo state. The sample of this study comprised of intact classes of two (2) arms of primary five (5) classes in two (2) selected mixed public primary schools with a sample size of eighty (80) pupils using the simple random sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire- Specific Experience (SEQ-SE) which was adapted from Mazzeo, Bergman, Buchanan, Fitzgerald and Drasgow (1988 & 1995) and further modified by the researcher with a Cronbach’s Alpha value of 0.68. Data collected were analysed using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).

Findings from this study revealed that there is significant difference in pupils treated with Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT) and those in the control group. The intervening variables of Age and Sex showed a significant difference in the treatment, while the intervening variable of Socio-economic status showed no significant difference. It is therefore concluded that Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT) is effective in managing the effects of sexual abuse among primary school children. It is therefore recommended that Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT) be adopted by primary school counsellors in managing sexual abuse primary school children.