An exploration into the perspectives of Occupational Therapists in working with parents who are adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Scotland

Abstract

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is deemed as a traumatic event for adult survivors. Research has shown that CSA survivors suffer short and long term negative physical and psychological effects and have higher chances of developing psychiatric conditions and behavioural issues. Parenting is found to be one of the interpersonal difficulties faced by CSA survivors. The literature review has shown that parents who have a history of CSA are likely to have low parenting efficacy and poor performance capacity. This may hamper the parenting role and thus affects the child's development and the relationship with the child. The "Recovering Ordinary Lives" strategy recognises that parenting is an important role to form social identity and Scotland's Survivor Scotland Strategy acknowledges that healthcare professionals play an important role in providing support and care planning for adult survivors of CSA. Occupational therapy is a profession that work closely with various client groups to help people maximise their potential and give them a sense of identity. It is noted that occupational therapists in mental health settings were likely to work with CSA survivors. However, there is currently no literature related to the role of occupational therapists working with parents who are CSA survivors in the United Kingdom. Therefore, a research is proposed to fill the gap. A generic qualitative research is proposed to explore the perspectives and experiences of occupational therapists in working with parents who are CSA survivors. Five mental health occupational therapists from five different regions of Scotland will be selected to participate in one-to-one semi-structured interviews. The interviews will be recorded and analysed using thematic analysis. The results of this research may provide more insight into the current practices of occupational therapists working with CSA survivors.