Desempenho intelectual e crenças disfuncionais em crianças vítimas de abuso sexual

Abstract

Sexual abuse against children can have consequences that affect cognition at an intellectual and socio-emotional levels. Thus, the present study sought to assess the intelligence of a group of children who suffered sexual abuse and to relate it to dysfunctional beliefs. It was carried out at the Júlio Müller University Hospital in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, in the Program of Assistance to Victims of Sexual Violence. The sample consisted of 17 participants, aged from 6 to 10 years and 11 months old (M=8.1 years; SD=1.4). Was administered the Raven’s Progressive Color Matrices (RPCM) test, to assess intelligence, and the Scale of Attributions and Perceptions of Children (CAPS), to assess dysfunctional beliefs. Through the analysis of the classifications obtained in the RPCM, children with intellectual deficits were not found. Through Spearman’s correlation, it was found that there were moderate correlations between RPCM and CAPS, with medium and large effect sizes, but inversely proportional. In other words, the higher the intellectual performance, the lower the dysfunctional beliefs, and vice versa. Results provided enough information to conclude that investments in educational process and interventional psychotherapeutic that seeks the accomplishment of both variables becomes one of the protective factors for this clinical group.