Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Brief Group Counseling for Psychological Problems of Sexually Abused Children: The Case of Godanaw Rehabilitation Integrated Project

Abstract

This study examined whether Solution-Focused Brief Group Counseling (SFBGC) is effective
in addressing the psychological problems of sexually abused children in Godanaw
Rehabilitation Integrated Project. The research design was a non-equivalent control group
pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design. Fifty participants aged 12–18 years were selected
purposefully based on inclusion criteria. They were randomly assigned to control and
treatment groups each with 25 participants. Three standardized scales, namely, the Children
Depression Inventory, the Child Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Scale, and the Rosenberg
Self-Esteem Scale, were used to measure the dependent variables on two occasions: pretest
and posttest. Participants in the treatment group received SFBGC for three weeks, three days
per week, 1:00-1:20 hours per session for eight sessions. Results of the dependent t-test
indicated that, after treatment, participants in the treatment group showed a statistically
significant reduction in the level of depression (df = 24, t = 2.186, p<0.05) and significant
improvement in self-esteem (df = 24, t =-2.623, p<0.05) compared to the control group. An
independent t-test indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the
treatment and control groups in posttraumatic stress symptoms during the pre-test (df = 48, t
= 0.183, p>.05) and during the post-test (df = 48, t = 0.199, p>.05). From these results, it
was suggested that the application of SFBGC has to be expanded to address psychological
problems of sexually abused children in more organizations or settings.