Childhood sexual abuse: Change and recovery
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The lived experience of adult female survivors of childhood sexual abuse: Change and recovery.
IRAS ID
198978
Contact name
Carly Jackson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 22 days
Research summary
The current research aims to explore the lived experience of adult female survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). There will be a specific focus on the experience of change and recovery following CSA and the role of mental health services play in this process.
In Wales it is estimated that 10% of children have experienced CSA (Public Health Wales, 2015). International research largely focuses on the impact of CSA and/or professionals’ perspectives of their clients’ experiences, and mainly focuses on resilience and coping strategies. Although there are a number of theories on recovery from abuse, these theories lack empirical evaluation and tend to over-emphasize factors related to therapy. Importantly, there is a “striking lack of evidence available about adult CSA survivors in the UK” (Smith et al., 2015) and a distinctive lack of published research obtaining the views and experiences of survivors. Although Smith et al. (2015) recently conducted an online survey that outlined the importance of services in CSA survivor’s recovery process this has not been explored in depth. Therefore, how services play a role in this process in unknown, which could have significant implications for public spending.
The proposed study will look at the experiences of women (> 18 years old) who have survived CSA and sought support from mental health services. CSA is defined as any unwanted sexual contact or repeated exposure to sexual material (e.g. pornographic images), and childhood is defined as prior to the age of 18 years. The study will be conducted in Cwm Taf University Health Board adult mental health services. A qualitative research design will be used. Participants will be asked to attend an interview lasting 50 minutes to talk about their experience of living with CSA. All participation will be voluntary.
REC name
South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/SW/0196
Date of REC Opinion
9 Aug 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion