Efficacy Of REBT-Based Intervention On Mental Health Disorders In Adolescent Survivors Of CSA

Abstract

Child Sexual Abuse is one of the most pervasive social issues that have a long-term negative impact on the survivors. Besides damaging the child's physical health, it has a long-term negative impact on the child's mental health. An activating event leads to irrational beliefs taking strong roots, which has been linked to the development of long-term mental health issues in adults and children equally. This can have a negative impact on their ability to function normally. The study of cognitive psychology focuses on the human mind and how it makes sense of the information it receives (input) and formulates answers (output)(Anderson,2000). Mental health disorders can be alleviated through the use of REBT-based intervention, which identifies and rationalizes irrational thoughts. The primary objective of the study has been to understand the efficacy of an REBT-based intervention in improving the mental health of CSA survivors. Two Scales (Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale-KADS) and Spence’s Children Anxiety Scale-SCAS) were used to check depression and anxiety among female adolescents falling in the age group of 12-18.The REBT-based intervention was administered to 30 children, randomly assigned into 2 groups and a pre-post design was done on the sample. The results show that REBT has helped in improving the symptoms of Depression and Anxiety in these children. However, there are many gaps that have been identified such as the sample size being extremely small because of the time limitation. Since the study was only conducted at one institution, it is challenging to extrapolate the findings to the wider public. The study can be taken ahead further and a mixed method can be used to validate the study even further. These replies (outputs) may then affect incoming information.