Abstract

Abstract: In Chile there is little research about the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions with adolescent victims of sexual abuse. In the world, there is evidence of the effectiveness of trauma focused cognitive behavior therapy (TF-CBT), which suggest its usefulness in the Chilean context. Therefore, the aim of this study was to do a pilot evaluation of a protocol inspired by the TF-CBT. The participants were 21 adolescents (12 to 17 years old) who were admitted to a victims care center in the city of Viña del Mar, Chile. Fourteen adolescents completed the treatment program based on TF-CBT, and seven adolescents formed the comparison group. All participants responded self-report scales to assess their symptoms of post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety. The results show that the treatment group significantly reduced their symptoms, while the comparison group showed no change. It is discussed about the usefulness of this type of treatment in the Chilean context, and over the imperative need to increase the empirical evidence of effectiveness of the treatments which are currently being implemented in this country.