Resiliency in Sexually Abused Children and Adolescents seen at the Child Protection Unit of a Tertiary Government Hospital

Abstract

Resiliency is “the capacity to withstand, recover, and even growfrom negative experiences.” (Banaag, 1997) This study examines thedemographic characteristics and most common resiliency factorsseen in sexually abused pre-adolescents and adolescents screenedfor mental illness at the University of the Philippines-PhilippineGeneral Hospital (UP-PGH) Child Protection Unit. The subjects of thestudy were all sexually abused children and adolescents screened atthe Child Protection Unit from January to April 2009 who were notfound to have any behavioral problems or mental disorders. Of the28 subjects, 19 were adolescent and 9 were pre-adolescent. Sixteensubjects were legitimate children and seventeen were not enrolledin school during the interview. Seven of the subjects only completedgrade 3 while seven completed grade 6; and fourteen students werein high school. Among the children who had parents who werenot married, they had more than four household members. All thesubjects had low socioeconomic backgrounds and were mostly beingcared for by their mothers. Using the resiliency scale translated byCadao, Rubia and Banson ( Cadao, et al. 2008), 36 items were foundto contribute to their resiliency. The items that were also the mostcommon resiliency factors in the order of importance were: verbalability as part of interpersonal skills; spirituality; adult support; thechild’s use of her talents; and opportunities for major life changes. Thisstudy differs in some aspects compared with other studies done in thePhilippines and will be helpful in mapping out resiliency modules forsexually abused adolescents.