Trauma Research Project Results

Partial results are posted here from the Child Abuse & Trauma Recovery Project. An enormous amount of information was collected and we have finally finished analyzing the data. When we have the results in published form, we will update this site, so please check back from time to time.

Research Participants

A total of 201 respondents from 42 states gave their consent to participate and completed questionnaires. A large majority (76%) were between the ages of 30 and 49 and the sample was overwhelmingly female (90%), white (93%), and had completed one to four years of colege (86%). A majority (61%) had children, and over half of these (66%) had one or two children.

Types of Trauma and Abuse Experiences

Participants ranked their experience of 16 different types of childhood trauma and abuse. Of all 16 types of traumatic events ranked, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and physical abuse were ranked as having the most significant impact on this group of respondents. The following traumatic events were experienced by respondents during childhood (under 18 years of age) in order of frequency: Emotional abuse (88%), physical abuse (75%), sexual abuse (74%), rape (42%), divorce (35%), neglect (32%), medical trauma or serious illness (30%), other events (18%), ritual abuse (11%), death or sudden loss (11%), violence (10%), motor vehicle accidents (9%), fire (7%), accidents and injuries (7%), natural disaster (4%), and war (1%).

The large majority of respondents (79%) had someone else in their lives who confirmed those traumatic experiences. The confirmation of these experiences was primarily by siblings. Over half (58%) had at least partial recall of those experiences.

There were no significant differences in the number of traumatic events reported by those who scored in the highest quartile on the recovery scale and those reported by those who scored in the lowest quartile on the recovery scale.

Immediate Treatment

Very few of the sample (24%) received medical treatment after the trauma(s) occurred. Of those, the highest number (23%) were treated for physical abuse, followed next by treatment for sexual abuse (16%). Over half of those who received immediate treatment (57%) received it shortly after the traumatic event, and more typically the treatment was provided by an M.D. Many (46%) who received this kind of care reported that the M.D. was helpful or very helpful. This is in contrast with the finding that those who received help from the police department (45%) of the sample, more often than not (56%) found this intervention to be unhelpful or very unhelpful.

Subsequent Treatment

75% of the sample sought individual treatment with a mental health practitioner at some time following childhood trauma. Half of those (50%) sought psychiatrists, and about half also consulted psychologists (49%). Fewer (21%) sought MFCC's (marriage, family, and child counselors), LCSW's (licensed social worker's) (30%), and counselors (20%). Most of the sample who sought individual treatment saw multiple providers. Of all of those respondents who experienced individual therapy, a large majority (73%) found it very helpful or helpful.

A majority (68%) of respondents were in individual therapy at the time of answering the questionnaire, with most of them (68%) having been in treatment for over one year. Respondents were asked to rank in order of importance those factors that accounted for the positive results of their therapy. Number one was "my own motivation", number 2 in importance was "my therapist's skill and experience", and number 3 was "medication and good medical treatment".

More often than not, participants also sought other types of treatment (55%), with many (40%) attending group therapy on one of two occasions. Some (20%) used inpatient psychiatric services at least one tiime, and others obtaining couples therapy (13%) at least one time. Of those who sought therapy other than individual therapy, most (68%) reported it helpful or very helpful.

Most of the research participants (68%) used some type of medication. The majority (67%) used antidepressants for at least one to five years (63%). Almost half (42%) used antianxiety medication, most for 1 to five years; 35% used sleeping medication. Of all who used medication, the large majority (79%) found them helpful or very helpful.

I was particularly interested in looking at other types of experiences that were helpful to the respondents in their recovery process. The top five ranked by the 201 participants were: supportive friendship (ranked as most helpful by 45%), reading for enjoyment or escape (rated most helpful by 41%), healing relationships with pets (rated most helpful by 39%), experiences in nature (rated most helpful by 38%), and creative pursuits such as art, music, dance (rated most helpful by 33%).

One of the more interesting findings here is the feedback that healing relationships played a large part in helping research participants move through their recovery processes. Whether these were professional relationships sought by 75% of the respondents, supportive friendships with peers, or healing relationships with pets, it seems that almost all of the respondents indicated some type of positive relationship was at the center of healing. This fits with the common observation that since we are usually abused or traumatized in the context of relationships, we require healthy relationships to help us heal.

Other Results

We hope to publish the complete results in professional journals as well as in the form of an ebook, which can be downloaded to your computer and/or purchased through Amazon.com or another distributor.

Contacting Us

Although we hope these research results will be interesting to you and stimulate many questions and ideas, we will not be able to correspond with you directly. Please leave any feedback or comments you may have here. Be assured your comments will be read and considered even though we will not have time to respond to you individually.

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