Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Abused Children: Literature Review

The purpose of this study was to clarify the effectiveness of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for abused children based on practice research using randomized controlled trial (RCT) methods, thereby obtaining implications for future support development. A literature review on trauma-focused CBT for abused children was conducted using the search engines CINAHL/MEDLINE and PubMed. Two RCTs met eligibility criteria and were reviewed by two researchers. Although the two studies differed in CBT skills and intervention duration, both showed reductions in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. It is suggested that CBT is useful for treating trauma in abused children, leading to not only reductions in maladaptive emotion regulation, quality of traumatic memories, depression, anxiety, and problem behaviors, but also increasing resilience and socially adaptive behaviors. However, due to the limited number of previous studies, the effectiveness of trauma-focused CBT for abused children cannot be fully verified, and accumulating research using RCTs remains a challenge.

Keywords: Children, Abuse, Trauma, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Literature Review.