Self-Esteem and Psychological Distress among Sexually Abused and Sexually Non-Abused Adolescents

Joslyn Henriques, Shivakumara K.

Abstract: The study was intended to assess self-esteem and psychological distress of sexually abused and sexually non-abused adolescents. The objectives of the study were to determine the significance of the relationship between self-esteem and psychological distress of sexually abused and sexually non-abused adolescents, and to assess significant differences in self-esteem and psychological distress. The tools used comprised of the Personal data sheet, Self-esteem scale, and the Brief Symptom Inventory which were administered on a sample of 80 adolescents from Goa - 40 of whom who had experienced some form of sexual abuse and 40 of whom who had never experienced any form of sexual abuse. Karl Pearson-s Product Moment Correlation and t-test were used for analysis. Results indicated a significant and negative correlation between self-esteem and psychological distress of sexually abused adolescents, a negative correlation between self-esteem and psychological distress of sexually non-abused adolescents, self-esteem differed significantly with sexually abused having a lower self-esteem than sexually non-abused adolescents, psychological distress differed significantly with sexually abused having higher levels of psychological distress than sexually non-abused adolescents.

Keywords: Adolescents, Sexually Abused Adolescents, Sexually Non-abused Adolescents, Self-Esteem, Psychological Distress

How to Cite?: Joslyn Henriques, Shivakumara K., "Self-Esteem and Psychological Distress among Sexually Abused and Sexually Non-Abused Adolescents", Volume 4 Issue 5, May 2015, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 3105-3108, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SUB154940, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SUB154940