I am .... a sexually abused child? A study of self-esteem and self-views of sexually abused pre-adolescents in South Africa

Abstract

Introduction: In this research the effect of sexual abuse on self-esteem and self-views was examined. Methods: This study included 43 sexually abused pre-adolescents from age 8 to 12, a total of 17 non-traumatized pre-adolescents and 31 pre-adolescents who experienced other traumatic events. Self-esteem was measured with the Self-Perception Profile for children (SPPC) and the self-views were measured with the Statement Test. The Traumatic Event Screening was used to examine if the pre-adolescents were sexually abused. Finally, a semi-structured interview was held to examine the self-esteem of the pre-adolescents more in-depth. Results: The findings revealed that sexually abused pre-adolescents have a significant lower self-esteem in comparison with non- traumatized pre-adolescents, however not in comparison with children who experienced other traumatic events.. In the interview sexually abused pre-adolescents indicated that they had feelings of sadness, angriness, feelings of wanting to be alone, loneliness, self-blaming and suicidal feelings relating to their low self-esteem. Secondly, pre-adolescents who were sexually abused used more negative words in their self-descriptions in comparison with non- traumatized pre-adolescents. However, there was no difference in the use of negative self-descriptions between sexually abused pre-adolescents and pre-adolescents who experienced other traumatic events. Conclusion: The present research shows that it is important to examine the possibilities of trying to intervene with children’s self-esteem and self-views in interventions, since it appears that sexually abused pre-adolescents in South Africa have a low self-esteem and tend to see themselves mainly in a negative way.