Effectiveness of Aerobic Exercise–Based Interventions in Children Exposed to Sexual Abuse

Abstract

Aim: Child sexual abuse exerts severe psychological and physiological effects on victims, frequently resulting in enduring and complex mental health difficulties throughout the lifespan. For this purpose, we examined the impact of physiotherapy-based aerobic exercise interventions on selected indicators of post-traumatic stress, physical activity levels and flexibility in children who have experienced sexual abuse.

Method: The study was designed with three groups, comprising a total of 34 participants. The groups included a control group, a home-exercise group, and a physiotherapist-guided exercise group, each receiving a 12-week intervention. Post-traumatic stress symptoms (Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale, A-DES), physical activity level (Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children, PAQ-C) and flexibility (Trunk Lateral Flexion Test) were assessed both before and after the intervention period.

Results: Statistically significant improvements were observed in the Trunk Lateral Flexion Test in all groups (p<0.05).  However, no statistically significant intra- or intergroup differences were found for dissociative experiences or physical activity levels (p>0.05).

Conclusion: While no significant effects were observed on dissociative symptoms or physical activity levels, the findings may suggest that aerobic exercise has the potential to be integrated as a supportive component of multidisciplinary treatment approaches, particularly in future studies involving larger and more heterogeneous samples.

Keywords

• Sexual abuse
• children
• aerobic exercise
• post-traumatic stress

Cinsel İstismara Maruz Kalan Çocuklarda Aerobik Egzersize Dayalı Müdahalelerin Etkinliği

Abstract

Amaç: Çocuk cinsel istismarı, ciddi psikolojik ve fizyolojik sonuçlara yol açabilen ve sıklıkla yaşam boyu süren karmaşık ruh sağlığı sorunlarıyla ilişkili bir travmadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, cinsel istismara maruz kalmış çocuklarda fizyoterapi temelli aerobik egzersiz müdahalelerinin travma sonrası stres belirtileri, fiziksel aktivite düzeyi ve esneklik üzerindeki etkilerini incelemektir.

Yöntem: Çalışma, toplam 34 katılımcı ile 12 haftalık bir müdahale süreci boyunca izlenen kontrol grubu, ev egzersiz programı grubu ve fizyoterapist rehberliğinde aerobik egzersiz uygulanan gruptan oluşmaktaydı. Travma sonrası stres belirtileri (Ergen Dissosiyatif Yaşantılar Ölçeği, A-DES), fiziksel aktivite düzeyi (Çocuklar İçin Fiziksel Aktivite Anketi, PAQ-C) ve esneklik (Gövde lateral Fleksiyon Testi) müdahale öncesinde ve sonrasında değerlendirildi.

Bulgular: Tüm gruplarda Gövde Lateral Fleksiyon Testi sonuçlarında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı iyileşmeler saptandı (p<0,05). Dissosiyatif yaşantılar ve fiziksel aktivite düzeyleri açısından grup içi ya da gruplar arası istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir fark bulunmadı (p>0,05).

Sonuç: Bulgular, dissosiyatif belirtiler ve fiziksel aktivite düzeyleri üzerinde anlamlı bir etki göstermemekle birlikte, aerobik egzersizin daha geniş popülasyonlarda yapılacak çalışmalar kapsamında multidisipliner tedavi yaklaşımlarında destekleyici bir bileşen olarak değerlendirilebileceğini düşündürmektedir.

Keywords

• Cinsel istismar
• çocuklar
• aerobik egzersiz
• travma-sonrası stres

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