Childhood Abuse: Psychological Challenges in Adulthood - Research Paper

Introduction

There is a direct association between abuse during childhood and adverse health challenges as an adult. The most prevalent child abuse is childhood sexual abuse; it is an egregious crime. For those victims who experience abuse as children, most lead a life of denial and disassociation. These strategies may help that person survive the actual traumatic event. However, as adults, most of them are associated with psychological challenges. Some of the psychological problems related to childhood abuse include being easily emotionally triggered, shame, poor communication skills, depression, etc. Most of these victims turn to therapy as a solution. But does therapy help in the healing process? It is a research proposal to study adults aged between 25-50 who were abused in their childhood and then underwent therapy as adults.

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Literature Review

There stands a well-established relationship between childhood abuse and mental problems in adulthood. There are large volumes of research that demonstrate this association. Childhood abuse is so prevalent, not just in the United States, but in the whole world. Non-clinical samples of people internationally aged above 18 illustrate abuse that occurred in their childhood and which was self-reported. The rates at which they occurred were 10% to 31% in men. In women, it is 6% to 40%. On the other hand, sexual abuse during childhood stands at 3% to 29% in men and 7% to 36% in women. A variety of somatic samples seen as being abnormally high in adults who experienced childhood abuse. The symptoms include; frequent headaches, frequent tiredness, stomach pain, nightmares, eating binges, and breast pain. The effects are not just emotional.

Also, there exists an extensive amount of academic reports and research that link childhood abuse to negative behavioral consequences like substance abuse, prostitution, and sexually transmitted diseases. Research that exists on connections between childhood victimization and behavioral outcomes in adulthood varies in terms of designs and methods. Most of these behavioral problems directly precede the abuses. However, only a small number of studies exist that examine how therapy helps these adult individuals who, as children, experienced abuse, recovery. This research will seek to fill some of the gaps that exist on the subject matter of how therapy helps adults improve from child abuse.

Research Question

The research will examine adults age 25 to 50 who, as children, experienced child abuse, and then as adults underwent therapy in an attempt to recover. By doing this, the research seeks to answer a few questions that relate to child abuse and therapy. A survey incorporated and given to the adults who are victims of child abuse will answer some questions. The results of the research will then help answer the problem of the survey, which is, what happens to adults who abused as children? What is the impact of child abuse in their adult life? Then after undergoing therapy, does the therapy help in the healing process?

Methodology and Research Design

The following are the methods and designs that I incorporated into this research. It covers the data collection, the sample used, and the data analysis methods and designs.

Data Collection and Sampling Strategy

The population for this research will be men and women who have had the experience of child abuse themselves. They must also be about 25 of age and 70. In obtaining this target population, a notice will be posted on social media platforms, asking individuals who meet this criterion to volunteer for the survey. After getting the participants, if the number is more than enough, a random sampling technique will be used to remain with the desired sample; 50 participants. The participants are relevant to the research question.

In obtaining data from the participants, a questionnaire handed out to the participants. The questions contained in the questionnaire will relate to child abuse, how it has impacted their lives, and how therapy has helped or not helped them. For this, I came up with a questionnaire, and it is in the appendices.

Data Analysis

In general, the two main research questions will give a significant analytical framework that will make studying the collected data possible. The data analysis will involve exploring what impact child abuse has had on their adult life, and how therapy has helped or not helped them overcome the psychological challenges of child abuse experience. Relevant literature will be used for comparison when analyzing the collected data.

Discussion

Potential Findings

After reviewing enough literature on the subject matter, I can speculate on the potential findings from the research. After analyzing the data, the results might either show that most of them have been impacted positively by the therapy. Most of them have been impacted negatively by the therapy. Also, among those who get affected positively, I expect most to be below 30. Other researches show that the psychological effects of childhood trauma get more adverse as an individual grows if left untreated.

Limitations of the Research

The research has its limitations listed below:

The sample is small and so might not represent the population well. The reasons that the sample used in the research is small are to do with finance. Incorporating a large population may not be economically wise, there may not be enough money to fund research that has a large population

Another limitation is that the study does not include people below the age of 25 but above the age of 16. Child abuse linked with teenage pregnancies, school dropouts, adolescent drug abuse, and other immoral behaviors that relate to teenagers. This research does not include teenagers and so hard to examine the effects child abuse and therapy has on them.

Future Research Ideas

For future ideas, I can research on how therapy helps children overcome the adverse mental effects of child abuse. If treated early enough, is it useful? I can then compare that with this particular research to determine what the difference is when therapy used to treat childhood trauma in adulthood and early in childhood. Another future research idea is investigating the factors that contribute to successful therapy outcomes for child abuse victims. What the victim can do or not do that will determine if the therapy is successful or not.