TAT Assessment of Sexually Abused Girls: An Analysis of Manifest Content

Manifest content of Thematic Apperception Test (TAT: Murray, 1943) stories of 30 sexually abused female children and a clinical group of 30 female children with no documented history of abuse was examined using the Scoring Scheme for the TAT and Other Verbal Projective Technique (Fine, 1955a). The t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality assessment 1994-10, Vol.63 (2), p.211-222
Main Authors: Pistole, Debbie R., Ornduff, Sidney R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Assessment
Biological and medical sciences
Child Abuse, Sexual - diagnosis
Child Abuse, Sexual - psychology
Child, Preschool
Content analysis
Female
Humans
Medical sciences
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Reproducibility of Results
Sexually abused girls
Techniques and methods
Thematic Apperception Test
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Summary:Manifest content of Thematic Apperception Test (TAT: Murray, 1943) stories of 30 sexually abused female children and a clinical group of 30 female children with no documented history of abuse was examined using the Scoring Scheme for the TAT and Other Verbal Projective Technique (Fine, 1955a). The two groups were similar demographically, and did not differ with regard to the overall frequency of negative feelings and outcomes. Significant group differences were found when specific negative feelings were investigated, with subjects in the abuse group having higher frequencies of stated sexual preoccupation than nonabused comparison subjects. In addition, higher frequencies of expressed guilt on the part of abuse subjects can be considered secondary to their overconcern with sexuality. Findings support the utility of the TAT in identifying victims of sexual abuse by the examination of manifest content.
ISSN:0022-3891
1532-7752
DOI:10.1207/s15327752jpa6302_2